25th matchday
Dortmund at the top with Gala: 6:1 against Cologne
Scored twice in Dortmund’s 6-1 win over 1. FC Köln: striker Sebastien Haller. photo
© Bernd Thissen/dpa
The Bundesliga summit against FC Bayern can come. Two weeks before the key game for the title in Munich, BVB celebrated their highest win of the season in a 6-1 win over Cologne.
Minutes before the final whistle, the enthusiastic Borussia Dortmund fans got in the mood for the summit meeting in two weeks. “Take off the Bavarians’ lederhosen!” rang out the crowd in the sold-out stadium, which had 81,365 spectators.
With the 6:1 (4:1) gala against 1. FC Köln, BVB travels with a powerful tailwind to the big title duel in Munich after the international break. Thanks to their highest Bundesliga win of the season, coach Edin Terzic’s team took the lead from Bayern for at least one night.
Terzic: “I’m happy to continue like this”
“It was a thoroughly deserved win,” said captain Marco Reus, who played a large part in the success with a brace (32nd and 70th minute). “Today it was important to be the leader of the table again and to put pressure on us. Then we’ll have a really great game in front of our chest in two weeks,” said Reus on Sky with a view to the eagerly awaited duel at Bayern on April 1st. Terzic was happy about the “successful evening” and the “really good” performance, “it can go on like this.”
In addition to Reus, Raphael Guerreiro (15th minute), Sébastien Haller (17th/69th) and Donyell Malen (36th) also drove away Dortmund’s frustration with the Champions League defeat against Chelsea (0: 2) and the Damper in the district derby against Schalke (2: 2). After the last ten league games without defeat with 28 out of a possible 30 points, BVB seems to be prepared for Bayern.
On the other hand, the negative trend in Cologne continues despite the goal by Davie Selke (42nd). The poor record of just one point from the past five games raises concerns about an impending fall into the relegation zone. “The important thing is that we stay with us,” said Selke, who also admitted: “It wasn’t a good game from us.” His first goal for FC is therefore also “irrelevant”.
Despite the absences of Gregor Kobel, Salih Özcan, Julian Brandt, Karim Adeyemi and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Emre Can’s suspension, BVB tried to control the game from the start. The first chance on goal gave the hosts the lead when Malen served his team-mate Guerreiro in an exemplary manner. The Portuguese, who was again ordered to midfield due to the lack of personnel, made it 1-0 with a shot from close range into the far corner.
Just two minutes later BVB had reason to celebrate again. The fact that Haller, who suffered from cancer last summer, ended his goal drought that had lasted since the beginning of February, was celebrated particularly loudly in the stands.
Haller with the first brace as a Dortmunder
FC were also close to a goal when BVB keeper Alexander Meyer deflected a shot from Sargis Adamyan (21st) to the post, but mostly just ran after it. In Dortmund’s offensive vortex, the overview was lost more and more. More goals from Reus and Malen rounded off Borussia’s splendid first half. The only blemish was the goal scored by Selke, where the BVB defense was punished for being careless. It was Cologne’s first goal after four goalless games.
In view of the clear lead, Dortmund took it easy after the restart. They kept Cologne away from their own goal with a lot of ball possession, but initially hardly created any chances. A free-kick from Mahmoud Dahoud on the crossbar, which Haller pushed over the line in a follow-up shot and thus scored his first brace in a BVB jersey, removed the last doubts about the well-deserved success. Reus rounded off Borussia’s strong performance with his second goal. The captain scored his 161st competitive goal for BVB, surpassing Michael Zorc and is now the Revierclub’s sole record goal scorer in professional football.
