Jadon Sancho, Jude Bellingham star as Borussia Dortmund thrash MSV Duisburg

Jadon Sancho, Jude Bellingham and Marco Reus were among the scorers as Borussia Dortmund enjoyed a 5-0 win over MSV Duisburg in the first round of the DFB Pokal.

Lucien Favre named a youthful, yet strong attack-minded starting XI, with Jadon Sancho, Erling Haaland, Gio Reyna and Jude Bellingham all starting. Despite saying earlier that he would prefer to play with a 4-1-4-1 formation, the Borussia Dortmund head coach went with the three chain system. Marco Reus, Julian Brandt and new signing Reinier Jesus all started on the bench.

Borussia Dortmund began the game very much on the front foot, and could have taken the lead inside five minutes, but Gio Reyna’s header was well saved by Duisburg goalkeeper Leo Weinkauf. They continued to pile on the pressure, and were rewarded in the 14th minute when Axel Witsel’s cross was handled by Maximilian Sauer. Jadon Sancho stepped up and calmly slotted home the resultant spot-kick to make it 1-0.

Jude Bellingham was without a doubt Borussia Dortmund’s best performer in the first half, looking lively and confident on his competitive debut. And he made it 2-0 in the 30th minute at the end of an excellent team move as Thorgan Hazard provided a neat back-heel assist. Hazard turned from provider to scorer just nine minutes later, finding the top corner with a beautifully struck free-kick. The set-piece opportunity came after Erling Haaland was fouled by Dominic Volkmer, who received a red card for his last ditch challenge.

Borussia Dortmund went into the break in cruise control, and with a well deserved three goal lead to show for it.

It did not take long for the Black and Yellows to get their fourth. Another free-kick, this time struck by Gio Reyna, was deflected off of Axel Witsel and found its way into the back of the net.

With 57 minutes on the clock, Lucien Favre decided to make a triple change, with Marco Reus, Julian Brandt and Lukasz Piszczek all coming on. And Reus celebrated his return to competitive action by finding the net with his first touch just 35 seconds after taking to the pitch. Julian Brandt and Jadon Sancho both came close to making it 6-0 soon after, but Leo Weinkauf stood firm to deny them.

With the win already in the bag, Borussia Dortmund eased the pressure slightly for the final 20 minutes of the game, largely limiting themselves to maintaining control of the ball.

The game ended 5-0 in Borussia Dortmund’s favour, as they sealed their progress to the second round of the DFB Pokal. Next up for them is a home game against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday as the new Bundesliga season gets underway.