Borussia Dortmund sporting manager Nils-Ole Book is delighted to see his side's offensive quality against an 'aggressive' Paderborn team.
The BVB cruised to a comprehensive 3-0 victory at the Signal Iduna Park on Saturday against the promoted side with goals from Fabio Silva and Felix Nmecha, who struck a brace.
Silva put Dortmund in front after only five minutes into the match from a brilliant counter-attacking move but it wasn't until the 80th minute that the hosts found another goal.
Paderborn were threatening in phases, fighting tooth and nail for possession and taking the game to Dortmund with their fearless attacking intent and directness.
In fact, the North Rhine-Westphalia outfit finished with a higher xG than BVB in the first half, and although Kovac's side clicked into gear after the break, clear-cut chances were hard to come by.
"Coming off the UEFA Champions League match, we struggled to get into the game a bit. Paderborn was very aggressive, especially early on. They had a good plan for how to close down the space and put us under pressure. It took us a little while to shake that off and break free from it, but looking at the game as a whole, we had a lot of quality shots and plenty of scoring chances. "Book said
Serhou Guirassy had the ball in the back of the net once in each half, but had both ruled out for offside. However, substitutions did the trick for the BVB once again.
Nmecha doubled their advantage with only 10 minutes of normal time remaining with fellow substitute Maximilian Beier supplying the pass.
Nine minutes later, Marcel Sabizter sent in a looping cross for the German to turn home with a fabulous bicycle kick as Dortmund were home and hosed.
Book further added:
"We improved as the game went on, producing beautiful goals and attacking plays."
This was also the first match since Konstantinos Karetsas succumbed to a circulation issue earlier in the week.
The Greek was forced off on a stretcher less than half an hour into their Champions League clash with Villarreal on Tuesday but Book revealed that he's alright now.
"We’re happy that things are looking good and that he'll be able to rejoin training and get back to helping us on the field."
He will have almost another week to return to fitness as Dortmund don't return to action until Saturday, 19 September when they visit VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga.
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