Borussia Dortmund reacted impressively to the embarrassing Europa League bankruptcy against Glasgow Rangers. BVB dismantled Mönchengladbach using every trick in the book. Marco Reus in particular stood out.
In Europe before the embarrassing end, in the Bundesliga still on target: Borussia Dortmund has once again lived up to its reputation as a moody diva. Three days after the unworthy performance against Glasgow Rangers (2: 4), coach Marco Rose’s team consolidated second place in the table with a clear 6: 0 (2: 0) over Borussia Mönchengladbach and remains the only pursuer of leaders FC with a gap of six points Bavaria.
In front of 10,000 spectators in Signal Iduna Park, the goalscorers Marco Reus (26th/81st minute), Donyell Malen (32nd), Marius Wolf (70th), Youssoufa Moukoko (74th) and Emre Can made a penalty kick (90th + 1) for the deserved victory in the 100th Bundesliga duel between the two traditional teams. Reus, who recently had to be criticized again and again for an alleged lack of mentality, contributed to the templates for the other three goals that fell out of the game in addition to his own two goals.
For the guests from Mönchengladbach, however, the situation remains critical. After the eleventh defeat of the season, relegation rank 16 is still only four points away.
Rose benched the disappointing Witsel and Brandt
As a consequence of the unsightly performance against Glasgow, BVB coach Marco Rose changed his starting XI to three positions. The recently weak Axel Witsel and Julian Brandt suffered. This remodeling gave the team more momentum. The lead was already close after six minutes when Gladbach keeper Yann Sommer reacted splendidly to his long-range shot from Giovanni Reyna, who had joined the team.
The Gladbach team, who were unchanged compared to the 3-2 win over Augsburg, limited themselves to their defensive work in the first few minutes. But as so often this season, a major mistake by Dortmund in the build-up game gave the opponent a great chance. Defense chief Mats Hummels made a risky pass at the level of the penalty area, which almost paved the way for Emmanuel Koné to make it 1-0. Only the reflex of BVB goalkeeper Gregor Kobel prevented the goal.
The game, which had been rather poor up to that point, picked up speed. The leadership for BVB also contributed to this. After Sommer had parried a shot from Malen, Captain Reus hit the net from close range. The fact that Gladbach missed the huge chance to equalize just three minutes later through Jonas Hofmann should quickly take revenge. After a nice pass from Reus, Malen appeared free in front of Sommer and gave the keeper no chance with a low shot.
Gladbach’s Hofmann only hits the crossbar
However, this 2-0 lead gave Dortmunders no security. In the 37th minute, Kobel showed his class again with a shot by Florian Neuhaus and saved his team from a goal before the break. The Rose team had less luck with the staff than with the Gladbach attacks. Both Reyna and defender Dan-Axel Zagadou left the pitch injured in the first half.
After the restart, the guests continued to strive for the goal. It would have been well deserved: The former Dortmunder Hofmann hit the crossbar with a brilliant shot in the 62nd minute. Dortmund, on the other hand, showed more efficiency: After a pass from Reus, who was in much better shape, Wolf made the decision with a shot under the bar. Captain Reus set the final point with his second goal.