Dortmund ease to victory over Hannover
Borussia Dortmund maintained their unbeaten start to the calendar year after a dominant display to beat Hannover 96 1-0 on Saturday afternoon.
Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Hannover 96
Goals: 1-0 Mkhitaryan (57')
The hosts were without injured top scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang here, but his absence was not felt initially as Dortmund attacked with their customary pace and incision. Marco Reus led the line and went close twice, even rattling the crossbar with an excellent free-kick. Hannover struggled to keep possession and only threatened sporadically on the break as BVB dominated the game.
Eventually Dortmund’s pressure took its toll, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan scoring a wonderful goal from the edge of the area after the visiting defence allowed him to run forward. Hannover tried to mount a fightback in the closing stages, but Thomas Tuchel’s men never looked like relinquishing control and held firm for deserved victory.
Read: post-match reaction
Man of the match
Not only did Mkhitaryan break Hannover’s resolve with a well-taken individual goal, his overall contribution was excellent: he covered 9.05 kilometres, won 11 tackles and completed 71 per cent of his passes.
Talking point
Dortmund continued their impressive home record, posting their ninth victory in ten league matches on their own turf this season – drawing the other. They have scored 31 times in those games.
Match stats
- Ilkay Gündogan made his 100th Bundesliga appearance for Dortmund in this match. Neven Subotic played just his third league game of the season here.Dortmund have won all 17 Bundesliga games in which Mkhitaryan has scored.
Line-ups
Dortmund: Bürki – Piszczek, Subotic, Hummels (c), Schmelzer – Gündogan, Ginter (Weigl 75’), Castro (Pulisic 64’) – Mkhitaryan (Durm 75’), Reus, Kagawa
Hannover: Zieler (c) – Sakai, Gülselam, Milosevic, Albornoz – Hoffmann – Karaman, Sane, Prib (Saint-Maxim 72’), Bech - Sobiech
