4-1 - Castro inspires BVB to victory over VfB

Gonzalo Castro's third-minute opener set BVB on the path to victory in front of 81,359 fans at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK. The half-German, half-Spanish midfielder headed home after VfB 'keeper Tyton had saved from Mkhitaryan. "Auba" doubled the lead thanks to Castro's assist (19), before Didavi halved the deficit (40). A Niedermeier own goal in the second half put the game beyond Stuttgart's reach (65), before Aubameyang rounded off victory with a late fourth (90+1).

Felix Ulrich reports

The scenario:
It was back to square one for 16th-placed VfB, who had replaced Zorniger with Kramny as coach following a run of 10 points from 13 games. Second-placed BVB's four-match winning streak in the league was ended by Hamburg (3-1). The hosts went into the game on a ten-match unbeaten run against VfB (five wins, five draws). The last defeat came in a 4-1 thrashing on 31 January 2010.

Personnel matters:
BVB boss Thomas Tuchel made five changes to the starting XI that lost 1-0 in Krasnodar in the UEFA Europa League. Marco Reus, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Shinji Kagawa were all recalled to the team for the clash with VfB. Reus in particular has had a good record against Stuttgart, having not lost one of his last five games against them since joining Dortmund (four wins) and scoring five in the last three games. Other personnel changes included Lukasz Piszczek starting a Bundesliga match for the first time since Matchday 8, while Mats Hummels, who had started 23 of the Black and Yellows' previous 24 competitive matches, was rested at Signal Iduna Park. Elsewhere, Roman Bürki returned in between the sticks in place of Weidenfeller.

VfB coach Jürgen Kramny made four changes following the 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Augsburg: goalkeeper Tyton returned from a gastrointestinal infection to replace Vlachodimos, while Niedermeier, Rupp and Maxim were all drafted in to replace Sunjic (thigh muscle problems), Serey Dié (suspension after accumulating five yellow cards) and Klein (blockage in the cervical vertebrae).

Tactics:
VfB took to the field in a 4-4-1-1 formation, looking to push forward in straightforward fashion upon winning possession. Wingers Kostic (left) and Maxim (right) then moved up the pitch level with Didavi, thus transforming the system into a 4-2-3-1. Borussia Dortmund adopted both an offensive formation and mindset: Gündogan was the only defensive midfielder in the 4-3-3 system, with Castro and Kagawa occupying the offensive side midfield positions behind the attacking triumvirate of Mkhitaryan, Aubameyang and Reus.

The match & analysis:
Borussia had the match under complete control for the opening half an hour. Before the break, the Black and Yellows won 65% of the tackles, recorded 73% possession and boasted an 86% pass completion rate. And there were goals too. The first chance was headed home by Castro in the third minute after VfB 'keeper Tyton had only been able to push a powerful Mkhitaryan effort into his path. It was the midfielder's first Bundesliga goal in the Black and Yellow of Dortmund.

Aubameyang gets goal no. 16 of the season

Thomas Tuchel's men were much more effective in front of goal than in Thursday's 1-0 defeat to Krasnodar. On the 19-minute mark, Bender played a ball forward which Castro skilfully flicked on towards Aubameyang, who converted Dortmund's second chance with a delicate chip. Mkhitaryan almost made it 3-0 following excellent build-up play from Castro but failed to beat Tyton (30).

As for VfB, the Swabians looked incapable of troubling the Black and Yellows for long periods. But after Didavi (28, Kostic) had forced custodian Bürki into a save, the 16th-placed side began to build in confidence. Stuttgart's play might not have been overly seamless and straightforward, but they did manage to cause trouble through Maxim, Didavi, Kostic and Werner. Having outmanoeuvred Bürki, Werner had a good chance to pull one back in the 40th minute only for Piszczek to stop the ball on the line. Unfortunately, it did not serve as a wake-up call for BVB.

The visitors halved the deficit just seconds later (40) when Rupp played the ball left to Kostic, who squared it for Didavi to tap home from five metres. VfB's first goal came from their eighth shot on goal, whereas BVB only had four attempts in the first half.

After the interval the Black and Yellows retook command of the match. Following build-up play from Mkhitaryan, both Reus and Aubameyang failed to make it 3-1 (50). Between the 55th and 59th minutes the attention shifted to referee Manuel Gräfe on three occasions. VfB were lucky not to concede a penalty from a challenge between Niedermeier and Mkhitaryan in the box (55); shortly afterwards Gündogan played a dream pass to Mkhitaryan from his own half of the field but Gräfe incorrectly ruled the Armenian offside; however, his call to disallow Reus' goal for offside was correct (59).

Thomas Tuchel brought on Weigl in place of Kagawa with an hour on the clock, though the switch initially made little impact. While BVB continued to dominate the match, they seemed to forget to shoot. Aubameyang failed to beat VfB shot-stopper Tyton after a flick from Castro (62). However, Borussia soon had Stuttgart's Niedermeier to thank after the defender turned Reus' cross into his own net like a true striker to make the score 3-1 (65).

The Black and Yellows wanted to round off victory with a fourth goal but Aubameyang (68, 76), Reus (68) and Mkhitaryan (83) all squandered chances against an overwhelmed Stuttgart, who failed to get a single shot on BVB's goal in the second period. The fourth goal finally came in stoppage time when Dortmund's no. 17's struck again, scoring his 17th Bundesliga goal of the season.

Prospects:
BVB will travel away to face VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga next Saturday (kick-off 15:30 CET). The Black and Yellows' next home games will come on 10 December when they host Saloniki in the UEFA Europa League (Thursday, 19:00 CET) and three days later in the league against Eintracht Frankfurt (Sunday, 17:30 CET).

Teams & goals