Erling Haaland, Thomas Meunier score braces as Borussia Dortmund thrash SC Freiburg

Erling Haaland and Thomas Meunier scored two goals each as Borussia Dortmund claimed a comprehensive 5-1 win over SC Freiburg to move to within three points of Bayern Munich.

Borussia Dortmund played some of their best football of the season so far en route to a 5-1 win over a hapless Freiburg side on Friday evening. Goals from Thomas Meunier (x2), Erling Haaland (x2) and Mahmoud Dahoud sealed an emphatic win for Marco Rose’s side as they issued a reminder to Bayern Munich that the Bundesliga title race is far from over.

Marco Rose named an unchanged starting XI following last weekend’s come from behind win over Eintracht Frankfurt. Raphael Guerreiro kept his place in lineup despite being forced to miss training for much of the week, while Manuel Akanji returned to the bench after fully recovering from his knee surgery.

Borussia Dortmund controlled the game right from the first whistle. And it did not take them long to take the lead. It was Thomas Meunier who opened the scoring for the Black and Yellows, sending a well timed header into the back of the net after getting on the end of Julian Brandt’s corner.

If one goal wasn’t enough of a surprise, Meunier doubled his tally at the half hour mark. The Belgian international headed home from another Brandt corner to make it 2-0.

Borussia Dortmund did not let up despite taking a two goal. And they were rewarded for their unrelenting attacking football on the stroke of half time, as Erling Haaland made it 3-0 after being set up by Jude Bellingham.

SC Freiburg came back for the second half more determined to have a go at the Borussia Dortmund defence. And they managed to pull a goal back at the hour mark through Ermedin Demirovic, who tapped the ball home on the rebound after Gregor Kobel saved the initial effort.

Despite Freiburg’s best efforts, it was Erling Haaland who struck next. The Norwegian international made sure of the three points with a well taken finish after some excellent work by Mahmoud Dahoud to win the ball back in the final third. Dahoud then got on the scoresheet late in the game to add some icing on the cake and seal a dominant win for his side.

Marco Rose will certainly be pleased with his side’s performance, barring that 15 minute period in the second half when Freiburg looked to mount a comeback. Next up for Borussia Dortmund is a crucial away game against 2. Bundesliga leaders St. Pauli in the DFB-Pokal round of 16.