Five-star Dortmund thrash Werder
Bremen - A clinical display against a below-par SV Werder Bremen side allowed Borussia Dortmund to begin their Rückrunde with an easy 5-0 win in the Weserstadion.
Bremen up against it
Marco Reus opened the scoring for Jürgen Klopp’s team with a well-placed free-kick and Mario Götze’s deflected strike made it 2-0 at the break. Felipe Santana’s header just after the break then effectively wrapped up the points, before late strikes from Polish duo Robert Lewandowski and Jakub ‘Kuba’ Blaszczykowski.
Werder went into the game in a confident frame of mind, and well they should have done, having recorded more Bundesliga wins over Dortmund than against any other side. That optimism was punctured inside the opening nine minutes, however, as the Champions went in front in style. Lewandowski was clumsily felled by Sokratis Papadopoulos on the edge of the box, and from the resulting free-kick, Reus stepped up to curl beautifully into the corner.
Bremen reacted positively, however, and a neat move from the home side almost brought an instant reply through Nils Petersen’s drive that flashed beyond the far post. Yet Dortmund retained that extra quality in their attacking play and after Reus had had a goalbound strike cleared they doubled their lead. Bremen might have had reason to feel hard done by, as Götze’s drive from 20 yards was deflected in via the underside of the bar, but a second goal had looked likely.
A cut above
In terms of possession and territory it was more or less an even contest, but there was simply a clear difference in quality between the two teams. While Petersen was on a different wavelength to his supporting cast Aaron Hunt and Kevin de Bruyne, Reus and Götze were combining superbly, as was the typically industrious Lewandowski. And even without the injured Neven Subotic, Felipe Santana looked completely untroubled next to Mats Hummels in central defence.
Hummels almost set up Lewandowski for 3-0 with the last kick of the half, but his errant pass made little difference as the Yellow-Blacks had a third within minutes of the restart. After Ilkay Gündogan went close with a free kick, Santana eluded his marker to glance home a teasing corner from Reus and effectively sew up the result with close to 40 minutes remaining on the clock.
Sahin makes comeback
A youthful Bremen side seemed to lose belief trailing by three goals and Dortmund assumed total control of proceedings. As the second half wound down, Klopp used the opportunity to make some useful substitutions. Sven Bender and Blaszczykowski both entered the fray to gain some valuable match practice, but perhaps the biggest cheer of the night came on Klopp’s final change: Nuri Sahin.
After Lewandowski had tapped in the goal his performance deserved, a visibly delighted Sahin came on for his first taste of Bundesliga action since 17 April 2011. Kuba then tapped in from compatriot Lukasz Piszczek’s cross to make it 5-0 and complete a hugely satisfying win for the champions.
Line-ups and statistics
Bernie Reeves
