Sancho, Reus, Götze & Alcácer fire BVB to away win

Boris Rupert reporting from Freiburg

The 24,000 fans at a sold-out Schwarzwald-Stadion saw BVB open the scoring in the 12th minute thanks to Jadon Sancho's 11th goal of the season. Marco Reus, who had a hand in each of the first three goals, added the all-important second after the break against an opponent that proved to be hard work for long spells. Mario Götze made it 3-0 with 11 minutes to go and Paco Alcácer added a fourth from the spot after a penalty was awarded for handball.

The scenario: 
Second-placed Dortmund were up against 13th-placed Freiburg, who had all but secured their top flight status. Only against Bayern Munich have SCF experienced a longer winless run (25 games between 1996 and 2015) than their current streak against BVB (15 matches). In this period, the Black & Yellows have claimed 13 wins and two draws − with a combined goal difference of 42-7.

Personnel matters:  
BVB boss Lucien Favre − who could call upon the returning Guerreiro but was still without Piszczek (foot problem), Hakimi (broken metatarsal) and Zagadou (knee complaints) − made one change to the starting XI that beat Mainz 2-1, with Bruun Larsen dropping to the bench and Guerreiro taking his place in the starting XI.

Tactics:  
Freiburg approached the match with an attack-minded attitude and formation, switching from a 4-4-2 to a 3-4-3 system whenever they had the ball. Höfler, the more defensive-minded of the central midfield duo, dropped back between the centre-backs while Frantz in the right midfield role drifted into the centre to allow Stenzel to overlap and to form a three-man frontline alongside Waldschmidt und Niederlechner. BVB defended as per usual in a 4-4-2 and transitioned to a 4-2-3-1 when they had the ball.

The match & analysis:
Dortmund's 12th-minute opener came about following a throw-in down the left flank. A quick exchange of passes between Reus, Götze and Guerreiro cut through the defence and the captain played a perfect ball across the face of goal to Sancho, who converted the easiest of tap-ins to claim his 11th goal of the season and his 24th scorer point.

But the away dominance – Reus tested Schwolow with a shot following a short free-kick in the 19th minute – did not last for too long. Once Niederlechner had dropped into a deeper role, where he served as a passing option and a bridge between the defence and attack, Freiburg began to grow into the game. The excellent Weigl deflected Grifo's shot behind for a corner in the 24th minute, while Bürki saved Waldschmidt's effort from range four minutes later. The visitors might have had more possession (62 percent), but the shot count was very much even (5-5).

There was a heart-in-mouth moment for Dortmund fans shortly after the break as Wolf slipped on the touchline while trying to bring down a long ball and subsequently rolled his ankle. He did return to the field of play but had to be substituted in the 56th minute. Toprak took his place, with Akanji moving across to right-back.

The second goal came directly before that personnel change. Sancho and Witsel linked up to feed Guerreiro, whose precise ball into the box was met by the onrushing Reus. The captain hit a low and well-placed shot into the bottom corner that left Schwolow without a chance (54). It was his 16th goal of the season.

That goal left Freiburg reeling and they were sucked into reacting rather than taking the initiative themselves as Dortmund moved the ball about for their opponents to chase. The goal that killed the game came on the 79th-minute mark when Sancho picked out Reus, who from the left flank played the ball into the penalty area for Götze to make it 3-0 to the visitors. Substitute Pulisic then hit the crossbar following a solo run and a penalty was given for handball by Stenzel a short while later, with Alcácer comfortably converting from the spot (86).

All the goals and highlights at a click

Outlook:  
The 154th edition of the Ruhr derby will kick off at Signal Iduna Park at 15:30 CET on Saturday.

Teams & goals