With eight days to go until their DFB Cup tie in Fürth, Borussia Dortmund have ended their pre-season preparations with a 1-0 (1-0) win over Italian top-flight outfit Lazio in Essen thanks to a Marco Reus goal.

Boris Rupert reporting from Essen

A total of 22 players were taken to Essen by head coach Lucien Favre for the final pre-season friendly against last season's fifth-placed side in Serie A. Jacob Bruun Larsen, who earned a berth in the starting line-up with a series of strong performances in training and previous friendlies, played alongside Götze and Pulisic in the three-man attacking midfield behind lone frontman Reus in a 4-2-3-1 system. Delaney and Dahoud were the defensive midfield duo. The defence was unchanged from the back four that drew 1-1 with Rennes 10 days ago: Diallo partnered Akanji in the middle, with the experienced Piszczek and Schmelzer in the full-back slots.

The game was barely five minutes old when BVB broke the deadlock with a well-worked attack. Pulisic drove forward down the right and found Götze, who in turn picked out Larsen on the left of the box. The Dane cut the ball back for Reus, whose deflected shot handed the Black & Yellows an early lead. A later attempt by Götze from the edge of the area posed few problems for keeper Strakosha, while Diallo headed narrowly over from a Pulisic corner (19). BVB initially had the match under control, while Lazio defended deep with nine outfielders packed into a narrow corridor in and around the box. They did have some forays forward in the first half, though, the most dangerous of which came through Milinkovic-Savic, whose shot was easily saved by Bürki (13).

Dortmund took a patient approach − at times opting to slow down the tempo − while remaining dangerous: Reus' shot from corner of the six-yard box was blocked at the last minute (34), while Pulisic was denied by the goalkeeper from a similar position (39).

BVB initially upped the pace at the beginning of the second period and came close in the 50th minute when a long, precise pass from Diallo landed at the feet of Larsen, who played the ball across the face of the penalty area to Reus. The captain's effort was thwarted by custodian Strakosha, though. Two minutes later Borussia took a short free-kick and found Dahoud, who fired just wide of the upright from the edge of the penalty area.

Axel Witsel drew vociferous applause when he came on from the bench in the 75th minute. Other changes included Zagadou replacing Schmelzer (Diallo went out wide) and Wolf coming on in place of Larsen. Favre introduced Philipp and Sancho shortly afterwards. Bürki was forced into making a save in the closing stages but did so to preserve the lead (85).

BVB: Bürki – Piszczek, Akanji, Diallo, Schmelzer (Zagadou, 75) – Dahoud (Sahin, 88), Delaney (Witsel, 75) – Pulisic (Sancho, 79), Götze (Philipp, 79), Larsen (Wolf, 75) – Reus
Goals: 1-0 Reus (Larsen, 6)
Attendance: 9,650 (in Essen)