Having conceded just once since the winter break, BVB's defence looks much more solid this year. The last line of this defence is 'keeper Roman Bürki, and he always needs to be ready in case the opposition finds a way through - like Hannover's Hoffmann did today.

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Neven Subotic and Roman Bürki

More shots on goal and more of the play but ultimately a workmanlike victory against Hannover 96 – is that a fair assessment?
It was tough going forward today. We had trouble with our final balls and so there was an unusually large amount of misplaced passes in midfield. Nevertheless, we scored a goal, kept tight at the back and thus deserved to win.

The 53rd goal of the season was the first Borussia Dortmund have scored from long range this season...
I'm absolutely delighted for Micky. He had a few problems getting into the game, so I'm really happy that he scored such a great goal.

How difficult is a match like that one for a goalkeeper. There is almost nothing to do for 90 minutes but you always need to be ready – like when Hoffmann had that header in the first half?
I need to get used to it and try to stay in the game and direct the players in front of me. At the moment it's working pretty well.

The numbers attest to that: only two goals have been conceded in the first five matches of 2015, and none have been let in in the league in over 300 minutes. How happy does it make a goalkeeper to rack up a third consecutive clean sheet in the league?
It's always nice not to concede goals. That's the objective that every goalkeeper and every defence has. Of course I am delighted that we have now managed that in three consecutive Bundesliga games. Now we want a clean sheet in our next match too.

Keeping a clean sheet at home in the Europa League would be a good basis  that's the key for Thursday's match against FC Porto. Would you be happy with a repeat of today's 1-0 win over Hannover?
I hope that Auba will be available for us. Then there is a good chance we will be able to get more than one goal. Except for the match in Berlin we have always scored and except for today we have always scored at least twice at home. So the prospects look good. If Auba is fit again then we will get a good result.

Interview: Boris Rupert