Borussia Dortmund remain top of the Bundesliga following a well-deserved 5-0 (2-0) victory over SC Freiburg on Saturday afternoon which took their points tally to 19 from seven matches. The Black ´n´ Yellows produced an emphatic display against Sportclub who finished the game with 10 men after Diagne was dismissed just before half-time.

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Johannes Vorspohl reporting
Marco Reus gave Borussia Dortmund a 35-minute lead in front of an 80,000 crowd at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK, and the Germany international doubled the advantage on the stroke of halftime when he slotted home from the spot, with Diagne seeing the red card for the foul on Lewandowski for the penalty. A wonder goal by BVB´s Polish striker made it 3-0 on 58 minutes, and he bagged a second in the 70th minute before Kuba completed the rout 11 minutes from time..
The Scenario:
It was first against 17th in the Bundesliga - never before had the two clubs been further apart in the table. While BVB picked up 16 out of a possible 18 points from the first six games of the season, dropping their first points last week at Nuremberg (1-1), Freiburg went into the game as one of three teams without a win in the Bundesliga. However, after beating Stuttgart 2-1 in the German Cup on Wednesday, their form showed signs of improvement.
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Roman Weidenfeller

Personnel Matters:
Durm made his third consecutive appearance for BVB due to the injury of Schmelzer. Jürgen Klopp also had to do without Piszczek, Gündogan and Kehl. There were three changes to the side that beat 1860 Munich in the mid-week cup match, with Langerak, Sokratis and Kuba making way for Weidenfeller, Subotic and Aubameyang. Freiburg were without Krmas, Mujdza, Darida, Hedenstad and Pilar.
Tactics:
The Black ´n´ Yellows set up in their usual 4-2-3-1 formation, with Durm filling the left-back role. The visitors also operated with a 4-2-3-1, but switched to a 4-4-2 with two holding midfielders when BVB were in possession.

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Das 1:0: Marco Reus hebt das Leder über Baumann hinweg ins Netz. [Fotos: firo]

The Game & Analysis:
Freiburg proved a tough nut to crack and it was evident from the start that the table did not reflect their true potential. The visitors were disciplined at the back and pressed BVB as soon as they crossed the halfway line. The Black ´n´ Yellows, of course, dominated possession from the off, yet their early chances pretty much all came from set pieces or individual efforts, for example in the third minute when Subotic came close with a header from a corner, or in the 15th minute when Mkhitaryan saw a shot from inside the box blocked after great work from Lewandowski.

Borussia upped their urgency levels after about 20 minutes when Lewandowski fired a shot from the left of the area just over. They mainly focused their attacks down the right wing where Aubameyang began to cause Freiburg´s defence all sorts of problems. In the 25th minute, the Gabon international came close with a header that was well saved by Baumann, and the Freiburg goalkeeper was also on hand to keep out two shots by Aubameyang on 29 and 31 minutes, respectively.

Freiburg now struggled to get out of their own half. Following a cross from Grosskreutz, Baumann failed to hold onto a long-range effort from Bender, but regained his composure to parry Lewandowski´s stab at goal. He was eventually beaten when Reus scored from the second loose ball with a fine lob over the keeper to put BVB into a well-deserved lead (35 mins.). The home side continued to press forward and were very close to double their advantage when a Reus volley from 22 yards just went wide of the post after a corner was not cleared properly. The German international eventually got his second goal of the afternoon on the stroke of halftime when he scored from the penalty spot after Lewandowski was brought down by Diagne who was sent off for the challenge.

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Schaltzentrale im Mittelfeld: Nuri Sahin setzt sich in dieser Szene gegen Fernandes durch.

Bender, who had fallen on his shoulder at the start of the match, was replaced by Kirch at halftime. Trying to put the game beyond 10-man Freiburg, Borussia continued their pressure. And the fans didn´t have to wait long for goal number three. The outstanding Reus picked out Lewandowski with a long ball into the box where the Dortmund striker weaved his way past Freiburg´s two central defenders before lobbing the ball over Baumann (58 mins.).

Freiburg´s task was now to keep the score down, but that was easier said than done. Baumann twice denied Aubameyang (66/69 mins.) but could do nothing to prevent a fourth goal when on 70 minutes second-half substitute Hofmann not only initiated a quick counter attack with a one-two passing move following a corner but also supplied a sublime pass to Lewandowski who slotted home from short range.

An enthusiastic Signal Iduna Park crowd started a Mexican wave as Borussia began to play some great one-touch football. After receiving the ball from Hofmann, Lewandowski back-heeled to Kuba who took advantage of some lapse of concentration from the Freiburg defence before rounding the goalkeeper and finishing into an empty net to make it 5-0 and complete the rout.
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Prospects:
BVB´s busy schedule continues with a home game in the Champions League against Olympique Marseille on Tuesday (kick-off: 2045 CET). Their next Bundesliga match is at Mönchengladbach on Saturday, 1 October (1530 CET).