Dortmund (dpa) - Borussia Dortmund has found its way back to success after a long Corona break and underpinned the title ambitions in an impressive manner in the first ghost derby in history.
Unimpressed by the ghostly silence in the largest Bundesliga stadium and the loss of numerous top performers, the second in the table at 4-0 (2-0) over arch rival FC Schalke 04 offered an impressive performance and celebrated its 800th Bundesliga victory overall.
After only one success in the recent eight duels with the arch rival, the Favre team removed its Schalke complex and shortened thanks to the goals from Erling Haaland (29th), Raphael Guerreiro (44th / 63rd) and Thorgan Harzard (48th .) the gap to leaders FC Bayern at least for one day to one point. In contrast, the Schalke have now been waiting for eight games for a win and are more and more worried about a European Cup place.
Handicapped by the short-term loss of Giovanni Reyna, who was actually scheduled for the starting eleven, who had injured himself while warming up, and the training deficit of Jadon Sancho, who was initially relegated to the bench, BVB found the game sluggish. Because the regulars Marco Reus, Axel Witsel and Emre Can were still missing, the development game initially lacked structure and speed.
But the newly formed BVB team did not need a lot of start-up time to get going. That was also due to the reluctant gait of the Schalke. The personnel situation during the Corona break had noticeably improved for the guests - but not the game culture. So they could hardly set accents on the offensive. Only when Schalke's Daniel Caligiuri (26) blocked an attempt to shoot at the last moment was there a risk of scoring.
In contrast, BVB was once again able to rely on Haaland. The Norwegian completed a remarkable BVB attack initiated by Julian Brandt with a heel trick on the flank of Hazard and thus ensured the leadership of the Dortmund team. It was his 13th goal in the 12th competitive game for BVB and his 10th league goal.
This gave Borussia a noticeable boost. Only six minutes later Hazard missed the chance to 2-0 when he did not hit the ball properly after a cross from Achraf Hakimi. Nevertheless, the BVB rewarded itself for the handsome appearance before the break. Once again, agile Brandt launched an attack on Guerreiro, which the Portuguese ennobled with a shot into the far corner.
Even after the break, BVB remained the stronger team and ensured clear conditions early on. Hazard used an exemplary counterattack over Haaland to make it 3-0. And also in the 4-0 for BVB 15 minutes later by Guerreiro Haaland was involved when he skillfully played a double pass with the Portuguese.
