Paco Alcacer and Marco Reus keep Borussia Dortmund flying high after Freiburg win

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Borussia Dortmund went temporarily seven points clear of Borussia Mönchengladbach at the top of the Bundesliga table as goals from Marco Reus and Paco Alcacer saw them past Freiburg on Saturday afternoon.

Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Freiburg

Goals: 1-0 Reus (pen. 40'), 2-0 Alcacer (90'+1)

Dortmund began the game in typically energetic fashion, with Jadon Sancho testing Alexander Schwolow early on before fizzing a cross-cum-shot just wide of the post. Freiburg had a couple of half-chances after Dan-Axel Zagadou errors, but Lukasz Piszczek and Achraf Hakimi were there to snuff out the danger as the hosts continued to dominate. Mario Götze almost put them ahead on 24 minutes, but couldn't quite get on the end of Sancho's deflected cross. The young Englishman was then tripped in the penalty area by Dominique Heintz, and BVB captain Reus swept in the resulting spot-kick for 1-0. Freiburg almost levelled immediately as Jerome Gondorf's spectacular free-kick came crashing back off the crossbar, but it was Lucien Favre's side who went in a goal to the good at half-time.

Reus had a great opportunity to get his and Dortmund's second when he picked Gondorf's pocket just after the restart, but Schwolow produced a fine close-range save to deny the Germany international. The hosts continued to enjoy the lion's share of possession but clear-cut chances were few and far between, with Axel Witsel firing over on the hour mark. Supersub Paco Alcacer replaced Götze with around 20 minutes to go, and eventually grabbed a second for BVB in injury time after great work from Sancho and Piszczek, who had rattled the crossbar with a ferocious effort in the closing stages. The league leaders now have a seven-point cushion over Gladbach before their game at RB Leipzig on Sunday.

Match stats

    Alcacer scored his 10th goal of the season to go top of the Bundesliga scoring charts, one ahead of Reus and Eintracht Frankfurt duo Luka Jovic and Sebastien Haller. It was the Spanish forward's ninth goal as a substitute, which means he has already equalled the single-season Bundesliga record held by Ioan Viorel Ganea (2002/03) and Nils Petersen (2016/17). Reus is off to his most prolific start in the Bundesliga since 2011/12, when he netted 10 times for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the first 13 games of the campaign. Petersen made his first start for Freiburg since 26 October, when he was on target in a 3-1 home win over Gladbach. The Germany striker scored a brace on his previous visit to the Signal Iduna Park, a 2-2 draw in January. Witsel completed 124 passes, 30 more than anybody else on the pitch. The Belgium midfielder also had a game-high 143 touches. Christian Streich has lost 10 of his 12 meetings with Dortmund as Freiburg coach, drawing the other two. The 5-0 defeat in September 2013 was the heaviest of his Bundesliga career.

Line-ups

Dortmund: Bürki – Piszczek, Zagadou (Toprak 37'), Diallo, Hakimi – Witsel, Delaney – Sancho, Reus (c) (Philipp 81'), Bruun Larsen – Götze (Alcacer 70')
Unused subs: Hitz, Weigl, Guerreiro, Dahoud
Absentees: Akanji (knee), Schmelzer (knee), Pulisic (muscle problem)
Coach: Lucien Favre

Freiburg: Schwolow – Stenzel, Gulde, Heintz, Günter – Koch, Gondorf (Kleindienst 77'), Frantz (c) (Ravet 68') – Haberer – Petersen (Höler 77'), Waldschmidt
Unused subs: Frommann, Terrazzino, Kübler, Okoroji
Absentees: Borello (cruciate ligament), Höfler (knee), Kath (stomach), Sallai (groin)
Coach: Christian Streich

Watch: Delaney: "95% sure Alcacer will score!"

As it happened

Click here for the Dortmund-Freiburg match centre!