Borussia on course for last 16 after beating Brugge 3-0

Boris Rupert reporting

The Norwegian fired the Black & Yellows into the lead on the quarter-hour mark with the first real opportunity of the game. Sancho added a second from a free-kick on the stroke of half-time, before Haaland completed the scoring on the hour mark to take his goal tally in this season's European campaign to six.

The scenario: 
Borussia Dortmund went into Matchday 4 with six points, one ahead of Lazio (five). FC Brugge were a point behind them in third. BVB had won six of their previous 10 games in European competition, while Brugge had triumphed only twice in 21 outings.

Personnel matters: 
Favre reacted to the fixture congestion by making five changes to the starting XI that won 5-2 in Berlin at the weekend, with Haaland the only player from midfield or attack to keep his place. Delaney (fit again following a calf injury), Bellingham, Sancho, Reyna and Hazard came in for Can, Witsel, Dahoud, Brandt and Reus (all bench).

Tactics:  
In addition to the personnel changes, Favre reverted to a back four and lined his team up in a 4-2-3-1 formation. They were up against a Brugge side that took to the field in a 3-5-2 system and looked to overload its left flank, with De Ketelaere under clear instructions to man-mark Sancho. Rather than sitting back, the Belgians tried to keep the ball as far as possible from their own goal and pressed high and early.

The match & analysis:
Borussia had their first noteworthy sight of the opposition goal in the first minute when Haaland had a go on the volley, but the first goalscoring opportunity fell to the visitors in the sixth minute. Vanaken threaded a through-ball into the path of Krmencik, who rushed his shot and missed. He was offside anyway though.

Borussia experienced some minor difficulties with their build-up play against a Brugge side that covered a lot of ground and kept their shape well. But they then switched their approach, forcing the visitors into long balls by pressing high. The plan quickly paid off, with goalkeeper Mignolet forced into a long clearance by Hazard's pressure. Hummels won the aerial battle on the halfway line and Sancho sprinted forward, showing sublime vision and timing to pick out Haaland, whose low shot beat the opposing goalkeeper and went in off the near post. The goal music rang out around a cold and almost deserted Signal Iduna Park for the first time of the night.

It was very close to sounding again on the half-hour mark when Hazard received the ball from Sancho and crossed in from the byline on the left, but Deli cleared behind for a corner with Guerreiro and Haaland lurking. Akanji subsequently unleashed a powerful effort in the 31st minute but Mignolet managed to make the save.

The match was interspersed with quieter spells, but Brugge were made to feel the full force of the Black & Yellows in the final minutes of the first half. Deli cleared a Bellingham cross into the danger zone to the feet of Reyna, whose shot from 17 metres was diverted behind for a corner (40). Three minutes later, Mignolet gathered Delaney's shot at the second attempt. Then, seconds before the break, Bellingham was fouled in a central position outside the box. Sancho stepped up and curled the ensuing free-kick into the top corner from 18 metres out (45). It was the second goal of the first half, and the Englishman had been involved in both.

Brugge, who had never managed to even pick up a point after being two-goals down at the break in a European game, did manage to string together some prolonged spells of possession in the second half against a more deep-lying Dortmund side. But they could equally could themselves lucky that Mignolet denied Sancho in the 47th minute to keep the game alive. At the other end, Vormer missed De Ketelaere's 58th minute cross, and an opportunity to get Brugge back in the game went beginning.

Haaland then put the game to bed exactly on the hour mark. It was a strange goal. Akanji had initially played the ball down the right flank towards Meunier and he had fed Hazard, whose shot was blocked. Although the second attempt was intercepted by Vormer, the midfielder ended up playing the ball into the path of Haaland and he immediately went for goal on the volley. Mignolet did manage to get his fingertips to it but he could not his keep the effort out. Haaland had been standing in an offside position, but the goal was not ruled out because the ball had come off an opposition player.

Outlook: 
Next on the fixture list are two more home games: against 1. FC Cologne on Saturday (15:30 CET) and Lazio next Wednesday (21:00 CET).

Teams & goals