Borussia Dortmund reacted well to their midweek Europa League elimination when they faced HSV on Sunday. 66 hours after their match in Liverpool, Thomas Tuchel’s men put in an impressive performance as they beat the Hamburg side 3-0.
17-year-old Christian Pulisic (38’) opened the scoring and his strike was backed up a brace from Adrian Ramos (44’, 86’). The result doesn’t do much for HSV’s relegation fears. They face local rivals Werder Bremen in a crunch clash on Friday night and will have to cope without goalkeeper René Adler, who was sent off for a professional foul after 52 minutes.
BVB boss Thomas Tuchel, who was overseeing his 200th Bundesliga game, made a number of changes to the side who lost at Anfield on Thursday. Only Mats Hummels, Gonzalo Castro and Shinji Kagawa retained their starting berths. The game was played in front of 81,359 spectators in Dortmund but it was the hosts who almost went in front. Sven Schipplock, who came on for the injured Pierre-Michel Lasogga after 34 minutes, burst into the box but his effort lacked conviction.
Dortmund push on
HSV were the better side early on, with both Nicolai Müller and Ivo Ilicevic threatening. However, after the opener was netted, BVB stepped it up and deserved their victory. The visitors conceded on the stroke of half time and that ended the game as a contest though. Adler’s dismissal added insult to injury.
Köln complete incredible comeback
1. FC Köln earned a vital three points in Mainz to end a run of five consecutive Bundesliga defeats, giving them a six-point cushion above the relegation play-off place. Anthony Modeste scored the winner for the boys from the Rhineland after goals from former Mainz player Marcel Risse and substitute Milos Jojic had brought his side back level at 2-2. Mainz had taken a two-goal lead courtesy of strikes from Jhon Córdoba and Leon Balogun. The Zerofivers remain four points behind the Champions League play-off places.
In front of 33,275 spectators, the visitors began very defensively. Manager Peter Stöger set them up with a five-man back line with Germany international Jonas Hector in defensive midfield, but it wasn't enough to prevent Mainz taking an early lead when Colombian Córdoba smashed in for his fourth goal of the season after the second ball from a corner fell to him. Köln took some time to find their feet and clearly struggled to put the hosts under any form of danger in the opening 45 minutes. It was no different after the break and Mainz doubled their lead from another set piece. This time the free kick was swung in by Daniel Brosinski and met by Nigerian Leon Balogun, who rose highest to head Mainz into a 2-0 lead.
Modeste ends barren spell
Stöger reacted by rolling the dice, sending on Jojic and Yuya Osako. Shortly afterwards, former Mainz player Risse fired in a rocket from the edge of the area to make the game interesting, and Köln got level ten minutes later when Jojic turned in from close range. They didn't stop there, and Modeste fired in late on to end his goalless run and complete the turnaround for Köln, who left Mainz with three important points in the bag.
