Sebastien Haller scores as Borussia Dortmund hammer SC Freiburg

Sebastien Haller scored his first goal in a Borussia Dortmund shirt as Edin Terzic’s side cruised to a 5-1 win over the hapless SC Freiburg.

Borussia Dortmund emphatically underlined their title credentials on Saturday afternoon as they thumped SC Freiburg 5-1 in the Bundesliga. Sebastien Haller, Nico Schlotterbeck, Karim Adeyemi, Julian Brandt and Gio Reyna were all on target for the Black and Yellows as they claimed a resounding win to move level on points with Bayern Munich.

Edin Terzic made two enforced changes to the side that beat Bayer Leverkusen last weekend. Marco Reus came in for the suspended Salih Özcan, while Raphael Guerreiro replaced Julian Ryerson (who missed the game through illness).

Borussia Dortmund made a strong start to the game and Freiburg struggled to get out of their own half for much of the first half. And their hopes of getting anything out of the game received a big blow when Kiliann Sildillia was sent off after picking up two yellow cards in the space of 90 seconds.

It did not take long after that for Borussia Dortmund to find their breakthrough. And it was Nico Schlotterbeck who made it 1-0 against his former club. The centre-back did really well to swipe the ball home from the tightest of angles for his third goal of the season.

Despite Borussia Dortmund’s dominance, Freiburg managed to equalise just before the break. The home side’s failure to clear their lines came back to haunt them as Lucas Höler delivered the sucker punch to make it 1-1.

But Borussia Dortmund saved their best for the second half once again, and scored four excellent goals en route to a thumping win.

Karim Adeyemi made it 2-1 in the 48th minute after some gorgeous link-up play with Jude Bellingham. The German international showed great close control despite being surrounded by Freiburg defenders before firing past the goalkeeper for his first goal in front of the Yellow Wall.

The most special moment of the game arrived in the 51st minute when Sebastien Haller headed the ball into the back of the net from Raphael Guerreiro’s cross. The Ivory Coast international scored his first ever goal for Borussia Dortmund in just his fourth game since recovering from testicular cancer and the goal was met with deafening cheers from the Signal Iduna Park crowd.

Julian Brandt then made it 4-1 with a blistering finish from long range, before Gio Reyna came off the bench and capped off the win with a lovely first-time finish. The USMNT international now has three goals in three appearances since the Bundesliga restart.

It was a dominant win for Borussia Dortmund, who are now up to third place in the Bundesliga standings. The Black and Yellows have won all four of their games since the return of the Bundesliga. And while tougher tests lie ahead, this performance will no doubt give them immense confidence going into the coming weeks.