A glistening display by Borussia Dortmund made for a spectacular Bundesliga debut in the BVB dugout for new manager Thomas Tuchel. The Westphalia boys in yellow and black ran riot against a Borussia Mönchengladbach side, who were simply out or their depth. With the final score at 4-0, Dortmund have given their ecstatic fans real hope for the new season, off the back of a forgettable campaign that even saw them spend Christmas in the bottom three.
First-half strikes from former Gladbach man Marco Reus, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan provided the foundation for this opening day victory in front of 81,359 spectators, leaving the 2015/16 Champions League participants disappointed to say the least as their run of seven unbeaten away games came to an abrupt end - the last time Gladbach went seven games unbeaten away from home was in 1981/82. Mkhitaryan got his second of the day in the 50th minute to put the icing on the cake for Dortmund.
Reus puts Dortmund ahead
The early minutes were a sign of things to come. With a high tempo to their game, and full of motivattion, BVB took control, despite several passing combinations lacking the required precision to produce chances. That changed with the opening goal, when the ball was guided perfectly from Mats Hummels to Shinji Kagawa and then on to Reus. The Germany international unleashed a powerful shot from 15 yards to beat Yann Sommer at his near post and break the deadlock.
The visitors immediately showed signs of pulling a goal back, but the pressure from Dortmund kept increasing, and Aubameyang was on the end of a pinpoint cross from Marcel Schmelzer to nod home for 2-0.
Mkhitaryan bags a brace
Dortmund didn’t allow Gladbach anything going forward, controlling the ball in midfield and causing endless problems with their counterattacks. After a turnover of possession as new Gladbach arrival Lars Stindl lost the ball, a textbook counter by Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan allowed the latter to hand Dortmund a decisive 3-0 lead.
At this stage of the game, the Gladbach fans must have feared for the worst, especially as Raffael had to clear a Hummels header off the line in the 36th minute and Aubameyang kept looking for goal.
Gladbach's hopes of a miraculous comeback in the second half were swiftly thwarted. Dortmund capitalised on the smallest of mistakes as Mkhitaryan scored the fourth goal following good build-up play from Reus. BVB could even have had more against the Foals' helpless defence, as Tuchel's side dominated the ball and their opponents, showing no weaknesses in their varied playing style.