Eight competitive fixtures, eight victories! Borussia Dortmund continued their run in the third fixture of the season. Dortmund earned themselves a well-deserved 3-1 (1-0) home victory against Hertha BSC. Mats Hummels (27.) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (51.) set Dortmund on the road to victory. A goal from Kalou (78.) made things interesting, before Ramos (90 +3) put the result beyond doubt with his strike in added time. 

Dennis-Julian Gottschlich reports

With 80 500 spectators, the SIGNAL IDUNA PARK was not totally sold out for the second home game of the Bundesliga season, because some tickets were sent back by the visitors from Berlin. At kick-off the temperature on the pitch had hit an unbelievable 43°C. This was to be no walk in the park for the parties concerned. Borussia Dortmund nonetheless controlled affairs and took the lead from a corner through Hummels after 27 minutes. After the break BVB raised the tempo and notched the second goal through Aubameyang on 52 minutes, but failed subsequently to put the match to bed. A strike from Kalou after 78 minutes was therefore enough to make things interesting, but Ramos sealed the deal in added time.

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Pre-match form: 
Both teams had started the season strongly, BVB extremely strongly with six points, 8 goals scored and none conceded. Hertha had accumulated four out of a possible six points after a 1-0 victory over FC Augsburg and a 1-1 draw with Werder Bremen. Dortmund also held the advantage in the head-to-head record between the two teams, with 25 victories to Hertha’s 17 and 14 draws.

Team News:
Dortmund had to do without Sahin (rehabilitation), Durm (knee) and Kirch (torn muscle). There were two changes to the team which had overcome Odds BK 7-2 on aggregate in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday. Bürki was back in goal replacing Weidenfeller and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang replaced Jonas Hofmann up front. Hertha were without the injured Ben-Hatira, Hegeler, Allagui and Schieber.

Tactics:
Hertha BSC pressed the ball in a very deep-lying 5-4-1 formation in which only Haraguchi strays from the midfield line waiting for a chance to counter. The Berlin outfit changed to a 4-2-3-1 system when in possession and employed multiple high balls in an attempt to bypass the midfield. Like last time out BVB employed a 4-1-4-1 formation, which allowed Gündogan to join an offensive quartet while also falling back next Weigl in the defensive midfield position to win back the ball himself.

The course of the match & analysis:
The humidity stifled the creativity of both teams and the match was far from a high-tempo affair employing the entire width of the pitch. After only 23 minutes the referee Gudo Winkmann interrupted the game for the first drinks break, another of which would follow in the second half. Nothing much had really happened up top this point.

Dortmund were struggling to find gaps, while in contrast the visitors were concentrating on the counter: on the quarter of an hour mark Haraguchi got through from a long ball from his own half and was only stopped at the last moment by a fair challenge from Hummels. Five minutes later Bürki had to save a shot from the edge of the box by Darida. These were the only noteworthy actions of the visitors.

This must has served as inspiration for Dortmund, who then took the lead. Reus took a short corner to Kagawa, who advanced to the right hand edge of the penalty area and hit a left-footed cross to the far post. Hummels was victorious in the resulting aerial duel with Langkamp and nodded home for 1-0 on 24 minutes. Shortly before the break Mkhitaryan unleashed another screamer, when his pinpoint 70mph shot from around 20 yards was only cleared by the fists of Kraft on 38 minutes.

Aubameyang slots home

After the break the Westphalians instantly increased the tempo, which caused Hertha serious problems. First only a hair’s width prevented Mkhitaryan latching onto a ball in the middle of the box from Reus on 48 minutes and only three minutes later the visiting goalkeeper Kraft was beaten for the second time. With 51 minutes on the clock Kagawa cut in with speed from the left and crossed to the far post, where Ginter awaited to knock the ball down to the unmarked Aubameyang, who only had to slot home for 2-0.

Spurred on by this the team in Black and Yellow applied more pressure. Long range shots from Mkhitaryan and Aubameyang on 55 and 56 minutes respectively were only narrowly off target. At the other end Bürki reacted well on the line to a Plattenhardt free kick, which sailed past both sets of players. Kagawa had the chance to make it 3-0 for Dortmund, which came about after an error by Kraft in the build-up. However, the Japanese midfielder missed the target with his shot from just over 20 yards. Reus also failed to find the net from 13 yards out on 75 minutes after an assist from Mkhitaryan.

Shortly before the end Kalou made things interesting by halving the deficit for Hertha after Bürki failed to hold a shot from Darida. Directly after Ramos was only denied from short range from a corner by the brilliant reaction of Kraft, missing an opportunity to decide the match. The same was true for Mkhitaryan, who rounded Kraft, but was only able to shoot over the empty net on 83 minutes. Despite a fiery final period, Dortmund were able to withstand the newly invigorated Hertha and Ramos finally decided the contest in the third minute of added time.

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Outlook:
There is now a break for the Bundesliga due to the international break next week. League action resumes for the Black and Yellows on Saturday 12 September at 2:30pm GMT against Hannover 96.

Teams & Goals