Matchday five in the Champions League saw Borussia Dortmund welcome Spanish outfit Villarreal to the Signal Iduna Park. BVB were keen to bounce back after a frustrating 4-1 defeat at Manchester City last time out in this competition.
Niko Kovač made three changes from the weekend’s entertaining draw with Stuttgart. Julian Ryerson, Ramy Bensebaini, and Maximilian Beier made way for Aaron Anselmino, Yan Couto, and Daniel Svensson to return to the side.
After a bright start from Dortmund, the visitors thought they had taken the lead when Tajon Buchanan poked the ball home following a fumble from Gregor Kobel, but the winger was in an offside position when the initial shot was taken.
Despite Dortmund dominating possession, Villarreal had the best chance of the opening half hour. After a quick counterattack, Buchanan fired wide from the edge of the box. The visitors wasted another good opportunity when a well-worked free-kick routine saw the ball fall to the feet of Pape Gueye on the edge of the area, but his shot ended up inches over Kobel’s crossbar.
Despite being second best for the entire first half, Dortmund took the lead on the stroke of half-time when a goalmouth scramble following a corner ended with the ball finding the forehead of Serhou Guirassy just a yard from goal. There was a lengthy VAR check for a possible handball against Waldemar Anton; it did appear as though the ball struck the hand of the German defender, but the goal ultimately stood.
Five minutes into the second half, Julian Brandt broke quickly before picking out Felix Nmecha, whose shot was blocked brilliantly by Renato Veiga. The ball fell nicely for Karim Adeyemi, who looked set to poke it home; however, Juan Foyth handled on the goal line and was subsequently given his marching orders after a VAR check. Guirassy took the resulting penalty, and although Luiz Júnior saved with his feet, the Guinean remained composed and slotted in the rebound.
BVB had their third in double quick time when Adeyemi played a beautiful one-two with Brandt. Thomas Partey’s attempted clearance bounced straight off Adeyemi and looped over Júnior in the Villarreal goal.
Dortmund were given a second penalty of the game with 10 minutes to go when Adeyemi was pulled down after he looked to have beaten his man on the right-hand byline. Fabio Silva would take but his effort struck the crossbar, a painful moment for the Portuguese forward.
BVB rounded the game off in style. Pascal Groβ whipped in an unbelievable cross from the right to put it on a silver platter for Daniel Svensson at the far post. The Swede headed home to give Dortmund their fourth four goal haul in this season’s Champions League.
A comfortable win in the end for Die Schwarzgelben sees them up to fourth place overnight. With their next game in this competition at home to Norwegian side Bodø/Glimt, Kovač’s men will be confident of putting themselves in a good position to qualify directly for the last 16 courtesy of a top eight finish in the league phase.
Borussia Dortmund 4-0 Villarreal Player Ratings
Gregor Kobel (6) – Aaron Anselmino (6), Waldemar Anton (5), Nico Schlotterbeck (6) – Yan Couto (5), Felix Nmecha (6), Marcel Sabitzer (6), Daniel Svensson (6) – Karim Adeyemi (8), Guirassy (6), Brandt (7)
Others: Groβ (7), Chukwuemeka (6), Bellingham (6), Silva (5), Can (-)
GGFN Player of the Match: Karim Adeyemi (8)
After a tough week for the German international, he will no doubt be delighted to be back to his brilliant best in this game. He was a constant thorn in the side of the Villarreal defence, seemingly popping up every time Dortmund attacked. There was an element of fortune about his goal, but nothing less than he deserved.
