Eleventh heaven: Robert Lewandowski (l.) scored for the eleventh straight Bundesliga game as Dortmund hammered Fürth 6-1
Eleventh heaven: Robert Lewandowski (l.) scored for the eleventh straight Bundesliga game as Dortmund hammered Fürth 6-1
Dortmund thrash Fürth, big points for HSV
Munich - Borussia Dortmund continued their excellent recent form by crushing Greuther Fürth 6-1 in a sensational show of strength in front of the watching Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho, inspecting Dortmund ahead of the two sides’ impending UEFA Champions League clash.
Greuther Fürth 1-6 Borussia Dortmund
Elsewhere, Hamburger SV claimed a scalp over rival European hopefuls 1. FSV Mainz 05, while there were draws apiece in Düsseldorf and Wolfsburg. bundesliga.com rounds up the top-flight action from Saturday afternoon...
Jürgen Klopp’s Dortmund side produced a stunning first half display to race to a 5-0 lead at the interval. Mario Götze’s near-post finish, a tap in from Ilkay Gündogan and a header from Jakub Blaszczykowski had the visitors 3-0 up before the half-hour mark.
Gündogan swept in another from the edge of the box, before Götze grabbed a brace of his own, lashing inside Wolfgang Hesl’s right-hand post to make it five. Fürth had by now long looked a beaten team, and a glaring miss from Sercan Sararer added insult to injury for the Clover Leaves.
Easing off
Dortmund eased off considerably after the restart, keeping possession to protect their advantage. Fürth’s response was admirable, and they claimed a deserved consolation midway through the second half when Edgar Prib fired past Roman Weidenfeller.
The final say was to be had by the guests, however. Blaszczykowski again beat his marker with ease and crossed for Lewandowski to make it 6-1, meaning the striker has now scored in eleven consecutive matches. Gerd Müller’s record of netting in 16 successive outings remains within reach for the Polish international, with five games of the season left.
Line-ups and statistics
1. FSV Mainz 05 1-2 Hamburger SV
With both sides still harbouring hopes of qualifying for Europe, the stakes were high in the Coface Arena. The home side's main threat in the opening period came from leading scorer Adam Szalai, but the Hungarian was isolated up front and his only supply line was the long balls from goalkeeper Christian Wetklo.
Despite the long-overdue arrival of spring, it took until after the half-hour mark for the match to burst into life, as Mainz’s Andreas Ivanschitz collected a pass but saw his drive cannon off the crossbar. HSV produced little in the way of attack, although Marcell Jansen should have hit the target with a free header and the goal at his mercy.
Costly errors
The game remained low-key after the break, before Hamburg were gifted the lead. After Nikolce Noveski was caught in possession, Rafael van der Vaart picked up the loose ball and released Heung Min Son to smash the visitors in front.
Another mistake in possession allowed Son to break free and expertly round Wetklo to make it 2-0, giving the Red Shorts some daylight. Substitute Shawn Parker dragged his side back into the game with a neat lob over Rene Adler, but Hamburg held on for a victory that takes them up to eighth.
Line-ups and statistics
VfL Wolfsburg 2-2 1899 Hoffenheim
1899 Hoffenheim remain undefeated under new coach Markus Gisdol after taking a vital point from their trip to VfL Wolfsburg.
Wolves midfielder Maximilian Arnold needed little time to make his mark, the 18-year-old collecting from Ricardo Rodriguez and rifling an unstoppable effort into the bottom corner after 13 minutes. Hoffenheim had offered little, but when Rodriguez was adjudged to have fouled Sven Schipplock, Sejad Salihovic stepped up to stick the ensuing spot-kick beyond the reach of Diego Benaglio for 1-1.
Bend it like Beck
Wolfsburg set about their task in determined fashion after the restart, with second-half substitute Alexander Madlung’s bullet header forcing the best out of Hoffenheim guardian Koen Casteels, before Andreas Beck’s 18-yard bolt from the blue fired Gisdol’s visitors into a surprise lead.
The twelfth-placed hosts probed for a way back into the contest in the latter stages and got their just reward when Naldo powered home a Rodriguez corner to leave Hoffenheim six points from safety.
Line-ups and statistics
Fortuna Düsseldorf 2-2 Werder Bremen
Stefan Reisinger’s brace wasn't quite enough for Fortuna Düsseldorf as Werder Bremen twice hit back from a goal down to register a precious point at the sold-out ESPRIT Arena.
The hosts got off to the best possible start as Reisinger collected Robbie Kruse’s defence-splitting pass to open the scoring with just two minutes on the clock, but they were pegged back 15 minutes later, with Kevin De Bruyne leaving a handful of Fortuna defenders in his wake and Zlatko Junuzovic stroking home.
Reisinger strikes twice
Parity didn’t last long, though, as Andreas Lambertz showed quick feet to release Reisinger for his second of the afternoon just three minutes into the second half.
Fortuna assumed control thereafter, but were once again unable to defend their lead as Martin Latka inadvertantly turned Marko Arnautovic's cross-shot into his own net, leaving both sides very much in thick thick of things at the wrong end of the table with five games left of the campaign.
Line-ups and statistics
