BVB 4 – 0 Freiburg
03/10/20
Bundesliga
Erling Haaland has now scored seventeen goals in eighteen Bundesliga appearances after getting a brace against Freiburg on a day the storm clouds set in over Dortmund.
Norwegian wonderkid Erling Haaland opened the scoring on thirty minutes, Emre Can made it two just before the restart, then Haaland added a third on sixty-five minutes before setting up Felix Passlack for BVB’s fourth.
Lucien Favre’s side got their Bundesliga campaign back on track but speculation is rife after a supposedly fit Jadon Sancho was left out the squad entirely.
Sancho has been constantly linked with Manchester United throughout the summer and is said to be open to a move.
Borussia Dortmund seem a team under constant pressure at the moment having already lost this season in a surprising 2-0 defeat to last term’s relegation strugglers Augsburg, and also having to deal with the added heat of the Sancho situation.
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Freiburg aren’t under the same pressures as Dortmund, enjoying their fifth season in Bundesliga after being promoted in 2015/16. The Breisgau-Brazilians have allowed themselves space to play with more freedom, establishing themselves in the league and enjoying good form last campaign which saw them miss out on Europa League by just a point.
Scrappy first-half
Like most of Europe, Signal Iduna Park was swamped with rain but that didn’t deter any of the 11,500 fans that were permitted to watch the match.
The rules allowing fans to games are extensive in Germany with one report saying not only do you have to prove you have no covid symptoms to get a ticket, but also you had to show you had been in the Dortmund area the past seven days before kick-off.
It meant practically all those in attendance were supporting BVB, patiently waiting in the sodden conditions for Dortmund to come alight on the pitch, and patience they needed.
It wasn’t until thirty minutes that Dortmund registered their first shot on target and that shot was a goal by the what seems to be at times unplayable Erling Haaland.
Marco Reus won the ball back in midfield and played it to Giovanni Reyna who slipped in Haaland to score.
Reyna almost scored a sublime second, twisting, turning and beating man after man, but when he got to the edge of the box he scuffed his shot wide.
As the rain poured the flood gates opened for Dortmund.
Haaland skewered a shot wide on thirty-five minutes after a nice lay-off by Raphael Guerreiro, then Frieburg goalkeeper Florian Muller made a superb save, spilling a shot at a corner but getting up quickly to deny Mats Hummels from point blank range.
Second half goes to pot
Whatever Freiburg’s plans were for the second-half they were torn up as Emre Can guided in Reyna’s corner leaving the sprawling Muller having to pick the ball out his net a minute into the restart.
Witsel missed a glorious opportunity to make it three five minutes later scooping a deflected cross over from six yards
The third goal came midway through the second-half. Reyna picked up on loose play by the Freiburg defenders and played in Haaland who finished emphatically, shooting high past a hapless Muller.
Haaland had the chance to complete his hat-trick and take his record to twenty goals in twenty games but sliced a piledriver just wide of Muller’s near side post on seventy-seven minutes.
Dortmund got their fourth through an extraordinary piece of teamwork by Haaland.
Through one-on-one, the striker could have completed his hat-trick but laid it off for substitute Felix Passlack to score.
Jude Bellingham
It’s a tall order for a seventeen year old playing in a new country, let alone for one of the biggest teams in that country, taking up a berth in the heart of midfield.
Bellingham is being chosen over the likes of German international Julien Brandt to drive Dortmund to heights they haven’t reached since being the last team to win the league other than Bayern, under Jurgen Klopp in 2011.
For much of the match Freiburg managed to crowd Bellingham out, the Englishman finding it hard to make himself space in a congested middle of the park.
But still it didn’t stop the former Birmingham City academy product from breaking free and registering Dortmund’s first shot.
A nice turn inside Freiburg’s half gave Bellingham the space to strike from twenty-five yards, but his shot whistled over the bar.
Bellingham found some relief down the flanks, picking out a particularly dangerous ball to Marco Reus in the middle of the second-half, which the German international nodded just over.
Man of the match: Erling Haaland
For such a big man Haaland is deadly with his feet, and when he gets one-on-one with any keeper in the world you expect the striker to score. Both finishes were accomplished, particularly the second one. It was Haaland who woke Dortmund up after the BlackYellows’ sloppy opening thirty minutes, and the Norwegian showed an immense piece of team spirit when, on a hat-trick, he laid the ball to Felix Passlack to score into an empty net.
BVB, 3-4-3: Hitz, Hummels, Akanji, Can, Meunier, Witsel, Bellingham, Guerreiro, Reus, Reyna, Haland
Subs: Morey, Delaney, Schulz, Brandt, Drljaca, Carvalho, Piszczek, Passlack
Freiburg, 5-3-1: Muller, Schmid, Heintz, Lienhart, Gulde, Gunter, Sallai, Hofler, Santamaria, Holer, Petersen
Subs: Uphoff, Abrashi, Kubler, Itter, Kwon, Jeong, Sclotterbeck
Goals: Haaland 31’, 66’, Can 46’, Passlack 90′ +2
Harry Jamshid Reporter Sports Pages 