Borussia Dortmund have won at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg for the first time since January 2012 – and what a performance it was! Matchday 10 saw the Black and Yellows end their recent Bundesliga slump with a highly-deserved 5-2 victory over HSV in their last game before the international break. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was the Man of the Match, scoring four goals – including a 'flawless hat-trick'*.

The 57,000 spectators at a sold-out Hamburger Arena all sang a song for HSV and Germany legend Uwe Seeler, who was celebrating his 80th birthday at the stadium. However, it was to be the highlight of the day for the hosts, who were completely outplayed from the outset and mercilessly punished for their defensive errors. Three goals from Aubameyang (4, 23, 27) left little doubt as to who would leave the Volkspark with all three points. The forward then added another after the break (49), before setting up Dembélé for a fifth (76). Müller had earlier reduced the deficit to 4-1 (55), and struck another late on to make the final score 5-2 (81).

Dennis-Julian Gottschlich reporting

The scenario:
Borussia were facing the Red Shorts for the 112th time. The two teams had an almost even head-to-head record in this age-old fixture prior to kick-off: BVB had won 42 of their previous meetings, while HSV had 41 victories (28 draws). That said, Hamburg had become one of Borussia's bogey teams over the last decade, especially up on the north coast, where Dortmund had only managed to win once during that period – a 5-1 victory in January 2012.

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Aubameyang and Mor celebrate BVB's second.

Personnel matters:
Despite the club's continuing injury crisis, Thomas Tuchel made four changes to the starting XI that defeated Sporting Lisbon in midweek. Aubameyang, Mor, Rode and Piszczek were drafted in to replace Götze, Weigl, Ramos and Dembélé. Schmelzer, Reus (lack of match fitness), Bender (bone marrow oedema), Durm, Subotic (fitness training) and Sahin (gastrointestinal infection) were left out of the squad. HSV were without Wood (suspended) and Hirzel (fibre tear).

Tactics:
Both teams took to the field in a 5-2-3 formation, though the visitors were the much more offensive side. When in possession BVB full-backs Piszczek und Guerreiro moved deep into the Hamburg half, with Ginter and Bartra moving ahead of Sokratis too. Rode and Castro looked to build the play in central midfield, while Mor (right) and Pulisic (left) flanked Aubameyang in attack. But rather than sticking to the sidelines, they cut in to create room for the overlapping full-backs. The hosts had a tactical reshuffle on the half-hour mark: Jung, Spahic and Djourou formed a three-man rearguard, with Diekmeier und Santos only dropping back into defence on occasions. Ekdal came on to play a defensive role in central midfield.

The match & analysis:
BVB made a perfect start to the match. In their first meaningful attack of the match after four minutes Guerreiro played the ball down the left to Pulisic, whose cutback found Mor 11 metres from goal. The Turkish youngster's first-time strike was mishit, but HSV custodian Adler could only palm it to Aubameyang, who was left with the simple task of slotting home from close range. It was exactly the start that the 8,000 travelling Black and Yellow fans had hoped for. Even after taking the lead, Borussia remained in the ascendancy and raced into a 3-0 lead inside 27 minutes without really having to exert themselves.

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Aubameyang fires home to complete his hat-trick.

With glaring weaknesses and lapses in concentration on show in the Hamburg defence, Thomas Tuchel's team took full advantage. First Douglas Santos played team-mate Djourou into trouble with a back-pass and Mor pounced, dispossessing the defender to go clean through on goal. Racing into the box, he timed his pass perfectly to Aubameyang, who was left with another simple tap-in (23). Only four minutes later Bartra headed a clearance from Adler into the path of the Gabon international, who bore down on goal, coolly drilling past the 'keeper's outstretched arms and into the bottom right corner (27). Only seconds before Pulisic had almost made it 3-0 but ended up firing over the crossbar from 15 metres.

Auba following Zorc's lead

Aubameyang had torn Hamburg to shreds almost single-handedly with his speedy three-goal salvo, and the hosts' helplessness soon showed when Markus Gisdol made his first substitution on the half-hour mark, hauling off the struggling Cleber and introducing Ekdal in his stead. In the remaining 15 minutes of the first period BVB tailed off a bit, allowing HSV to carve out two half-chances, but Müller's headed efforts after 40 and 45 minutes respectively failed to find the net.

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Aubameyang fired Borussia in front after just four minutes.

Shortly after the restart Aubameyang continued where he had left off: Pulisic beat three men on the edge of the penalty area before picking out the striker, whose drilled shot from 15 metres nestled in the bottom left corner (49). It was the first time a Black and Yellow had scored four goals in a single match since Michael Zorc in 1988. Barely 60 seconds later the Gabon international was clean through again but fired narrowly wide of the post as Adler came charging off his line.

Dembélé rounds off the win

HSV had not completely given up the ghost, though, grabbing a consolation goal after 55 minutes through Müller – one of the few Red Shorts players still full of fight – and almost reduced the score to 4-2 following a corner through Waldschmidt, whose effort hit the side-netting (58). Two minutes later the ball did find its way into the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed by the referee for a foul on Ginter by Gregoritsch. At this point BVB really had to be alert to the danger as Hamburg were starting to get a foothold in the game.

But those fleeting hopes were quashed when Dembélé was introduced from the bench, the Frenchman slotting the ball into the far corner following an assist from Aubameyang to make the score 5-1 (76). Müller soon hit back to make it 5-2 but his strike made little impact. Schürrle could have added a sixth goal for the Black and Yellows late on but his effort from 11 metres sailed wide of the goal (84).

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Prospects:
The Black and Yellows will now pause for the international break, but their next game in the Bundesliga is a big one: the 'Klassiker' against Bayern Munich on Saturday 19 November (18:30 CET).

Teams & goals

*In Germany, the term 'flawless hat-trick' (lupenreiner Hattrick) refers to a hat-trick when a player scores three goals in a row in one half without the half-time break or a goal scored by another player interfering the performance.