Four wins in four matches! A strong performance for 90 minutes saw Borussia Dortmund win their top match against Sport-Club Freiburg (1-1) and gain further ground on the teams around them.

Boris Rupert reporting

The 81,365 spectators at a sold-out SIGNAL IDUNA PARK saw an almost flawless first half from an effervescent Borussia side. They only allowed the opposition one chance, but Höler took advantage on the stroke of half-time to make it 1-1. Schlotterbeck had earlier opened the scoring in the 25th minute for BVB, who were a man up following Sildillia's 17th-minute dismissal. Adeyemi (48) and Haller (51) quickly fired the Black & Yellows into a 3-1 lead after the restart, with Brandt (69) and Reyna (82) extending the advantage to 5-1.

The scenario:  
Fourth-placed Borussia Dortmund and fifth-placed SC Freiburg went into their 46th Bundesliga meeting level on points. The Black & Yellows were unbeaten in 14 Bundesliga home games against Streich's side – their longest such run against any opponent – and had taken 40 out of a possible 42 points during that timeframe.

Personnel matters:   
Ryerson (ill) and Özcan (suspended) needed to be replaced, with Guerreiro and Reus the new faces in the starting XI…

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Tactics:   
…which was nominally much more attack-minded, with Can the link between defence and attack in a 4-1-4-1 formation. Brandt repeatedly cut inside from the right flank and then played almost like a second No. 10 alongside Reus. The "magic triangle" was completed by Bellingham, who occupied a deep role in the centre-right channel. Adeyemi mostly hugged the left touchline and looked to get in behind to the byline. Freiburg, who lined up in a 5-3-2 off the ball and a 3-5-2 in possession with Sildillia – up until his 17th-minute dismissal – advancing up the pitch, played a lot of long balls and looked to win "second" balls and set-pieces near the penalty area. Once down to 10 men, Freiburg defended with a back four.

The match & analysis:
BVB made a high-tempo and high-pressure start to the match, which was characterised by high intensity from the off. Guerreiro earned himself a yellow card in the fifth minute; his opposite number on the pitch, Sildillia, was booked twice in the space of two minutes – both for fouls against Adeyemi (15/17). Up until that moment, BVB had only created one scoring chance against a visiting side that were well set up and switched the play at speed: Wolf played in Guerreiro, who dragged his shot from a tight angle wide (8).

Once a player up, Borussia became even more dominant and linked up fluidly – it was one-way traffic. Bellingham was played clean through by Brandt in the 19th minute but he did not connect properly with the ball from 16 metres out. Süle then had a go from distance. Flekken struggled to deal with the bounce on the ball and parried it onto the post (25). That led to the fifth corner of the game. The ball was delivered in towards the near post and Reus tried to let it run through to Wolf, but Schlotterbeck got in between, wrapped his left foot around the ball almost at the byline, took a low shot from an acute angle and picked out the gap between the goalkeeper and the near post.

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Freiburg posed a danger going forward for the first time right before the break. A move involving Grifo and Doan led to the ball landing at the feet of Höler, whose left-footed shot from 15 metres nestled in the bottom right corner.

BVB were kicking towards the South Stand in the second half – which then exploded into life twice in the space of three minutes. The first happened when their 09th corner was taken short to Adeyemi, who stopped in his tracks 20 metres from goal, then played a one-two with Bellingham and poked the ball into the net from around 11 metres out (48).

Dortmund kept at it. Grifo cleared at the back post with Guerreiro lurking in wait and although he prevented it going to 3-1 at the time, he did give away another corner, which Freiburg cleared out as far as Brandt. He then played it to Guerreiro on the left corner of the box, whose cross was headed home by Haller for 3-1 (51). Four minutes later, Reus struck the Freiburg bar. The one-way traffic continued. The Black & Yellows moved the ball around seamlessly – as was the case for the goal for 4-1. Substitute Bynoe-Gittens passed from just behind the halfway line to Guerreiro, who fed Brandt. He ran a few metres and then shot from distance, the ball going into the back of the net off the inside of the left post (69).

The chance count stood at 11-1 with 10 minutes remaining – BVB were in full flow, with Flekken intervening on several occasions to deny a fifth goal. But it eventually came in the 82nd minute. Bynoe-Gittens fed Guerreiro in the box, who claimed his third assist by teeing up Reyna. The American's low effort beat the keeper and sealed the 5-1 victory.

Outlook:   
BVB will travel to VfL Bochum on Wednesday (kick-off 20:45 CET) with a place in the DFB-Pokal quarter-finals at stake. The next Bundesliga match takes place in Bremen next Saturday (15:30 CET).

Teams & goals

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Bundesliga Matchday 19
BORUSSIA DORTMUND 5-1 (1-1) SC FREIBURG

Bor. Dortmund: Kobel – Wolf (Dahoud, 78), Süle, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro – Can – Brandt, Reus (Reyna, 71), Bellingham (Malen, 71), Adeyemi (Bynoe-Gittens, 61) – Haller (Moukoko, 61)
SC Freiburg: Flekken – Kübler (Gulde, 88), Ginter, Lienhart – Sildillia, Höfler, Günter – Höler (Gregoritsch, 67), Grifo (Eggestein, 60) – Doan (Jeong, 67), Kyereh (Sallai, 60)
Substitutes: Meyer, Hummels, Modeste, Passlack – Uphoff, Röhl, Wagner, Petersen
Goals: 1-0 Schlotterbeck (Reus, 25), 1-1 Höler (Doan, 45), 2-1 Adeyemi (Bellingham, 48), 3-1 Haller (Guerreiro, 51), 4-1 Brandt (Guerreiro, 69), 5-1 Reyna (Guerreiro, 82)
Corners: 14-0 (8-0 at half-time), chance ratio: 12-1 (3-1)
Referee: Schröder (Hanover), red cards: Sildillia (repeated foul play, 25), Streich (77), yellow cards: Guerreiro, Adeydemi, Brandt – Kyereh, Gregoritsch
Attendance: 81,365 (sold-out), weather: bright, 7 degrees