Borussia Dortmund 5-0 FC Köln, Bundesliga 2017: Match Review

Borussia Dortmund beat FC Köln 5-0 at the Signal Iduna Park

Peter Bosz and his men returned home on the back of a draw against Freiburg and a loss against Tottenham in the UCL–a big was necessary to restore dominance in the Bundesliga. Dortmund did not disappoint. A massive win over Köln at home was a show of intent and here’s how it all played out.

First Half:

Before anyone could even settle down in their seats, Maximilian Philipp was already celebrating his first goal for Die Borussen. It was wonderfully weighted ball from Yarmolenko and there was nothing that Köln could do about it. Dortmund took the lead in the first minute of the game.

1-0, Dortmund.

Breaking the dead-lock was crucial as it allowed Dortmund control over the game. Soon, one could see that Peter Bosz and his possession based style were already leaving an imprint on Dortmund. Unlike previous seasons where Dortmund relied heavily on the counter-attack, the centre-backs played plenty of safe passes amongst themselves in a bid to find spaces. There was a lot of possession and the tempo was firmly in Dortmund’s hand.

Even when Köln did manage to win the ball, BVB’s high press was too much to handle and the home side would win the ball within three passes from the opposition.

Cordoba battled for the ball with Sokratis inside the box and eventually went down after tugging at the defender’s jersey; the referee was not interested.

Köln were failing to remain compact despite holding their 4-5-1 formation very well. This lack of discipline cost them heavily as they were constantly bypassed by BVB. Yarmolenko in articular was a hassle as he kept taking the defence apart and eventually got a couple of shots away. The Ukrainian was brought down by Bittencourt outside the box, but the resulting free-kick was straight at the keeper. Around the half-hour mark, Yarmolenko linked-up with Nuri Sahin but the Turk’s attempt was wide.

Dortmund had another excellent counter-attack which fell through in the final moments. Once more, Yarmolenko was in the thick of it all.

Around the 34′ mark, Cordoba raced through on goal for Köln but was stopped in his tracks after a brilliant challenge from behind by Sokratis. The Greek defender needed some medical attention as he’d over-stretched himself a little, but soon returned to play.

In the final moments of the first half, Sokratis put the into the net from a corner but his goal was disallowed. After an appeal, however, the VAR got involved and correctly overruled the decision.

2-0, Dortmund.

Second Half:

Köln returned to the pitch with renewed vigour as they attempted to break down Dortmund’s defence. BVB, however, had other plans.

Dortmund continued to counter through Aubameyang who had had a slow night so far. The striker nearly scored a goal in the early minutes as he raced past the defence to take a shot. His attempt was inches away from the far-post.

Even Dahoud who was having an excellent night in midfield took his chances on goal from outside the box. Maximilian Philipp looked aggressive in his dribbles as he attempted to force through the defence of Köln with sheer will.

Ten minutes into the second half, Yarmolenko delivered a ball into the box for Philipp but the German was brought down inside the box and VAR called for a penalty. Aubameyang took it, and finished with precision.

3-0.

A couple of minutes later, Aubameyang raced past the defence before burying his shot into the back of the net.

4-0.

With twenty five minutes on the clock, Julian Weigl and Christian Pulisic came on for Nuri Sahin and Andrey Yarmolenko.

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A few minutes later, Aubameyang slipped a ball to Philipp inside the opposition box. The German calmly chipped the keeper to get his brace.

5-0.

Köln attempted to attack Dortmund but the home-side always had the quality to keep them at bay. Isak came on for Aubameyang and quickly got his first shot on target.

Dortmund had seized control and with little to no chance for Köln, the referee blew his whistle with no stoppage time.

FT: 5-0

Dortmund wanted to make a statement at home and they did exactly that. Dortmund sit on top of the Bundesliga with 10 points and will only get stronger once their stars return from injury.

Onwards and upwards!