Borussia Dortmund continued their brilliant run of form, as they smashed aside a clueless Hertha, to extend their unbeaten home run to 39 games. Starting with an unchanged squad, Peter Bosz’s men were commanding throughout the game.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring in the first half, through a stunning curled cross from Nuri Sahin. Sahin himself, then scored the second, in the 2nd half, from a long range effort. Borussia Dortmund now, retain their spot at the top, after just two matchdays.
Here are the best and the worst BVB players, rated in their convincing win over the Berliners.
Roman Burki(8/10): Despite not having to do much, Burki stood up to the challenge when needed. The Swiss International made two stunning saves from Niklas Stark to preserve his clean sheet.
He becomes the first goalkeeper to preserve two clean sheets in two matches this season.
Lukasz Piszczek(8/10): Was very solid on the right-hand side. Piszczek, playing his 250th game in the Bundesliga, was a busy customer in the offence, often going forward, linking up with Pulisic and providing an array of crosses. He never looked in danger against the Hertha wingers.
Sokratis(8/10): Commanding performance till the moment he collected a knock and felt dizziness afterwards, eventually getting subbed off for Omer Toprak.
Marc Bartra(8.5/10): Once again, a faultless performance from Marc Bartra. He played a crucial role in the build-up play from the back, and also had a good understanding with Nuri Sahin and Dan-Axel Zagadou on the left. Had more passes than anyone else on the field with 122.
Dan-Axel Zagadou(8.5/10): The youngster showed terrific tenacity to evolve in an unnatural left back position. Normally a centre back, Zagadou played very well on the left, linking up with his teammates, providing neat little balls to the attackers.
He formed a passing triangle on the left along with Mario Gotze and Maximilian Philipp, which was pivotal in their left sided overload. The Frenchman also covered a lot of ground and won an astonishing 11 aerial duels against Hertha.
Nuri Sahin(10/10): By far the best performer on the night. Nuri Sahin is finally getting back to his old self.
The Turkish midfielder propagated their possession play, and also played a crucial role in midfield pressing. Sahin also marched forward on several occasions, which was very interesting.
If he can keep up his fiery form, then returning midfielder Julian Weigl might have a hard time getting back into the team.
Gonzalo Castro(8/10): Castro was another important figure in midfield. The ex-Leverkusen man carried the ball from defence to offence on several occasion.
He made 56 passes and completed four dribbles against Hertha. Castro is finally looking more direct, under Peter Bosz – and that way he is more effective for BVB.
Mario Gotze(8/10): Another great game for Mario Gotze, who worked really hard and ran his socks off, before being subbed off in the second half. He linked up well with his teammates, on the left, especially with Maxi Philipp down the wings.
Although he wasn’t able to make any telling difference, there’s a sign that the former Bayern midfielder is on his way to getting back to his former self.
Christian Pulisic(8.5/10): The American had a great game on the right flank as he was often looking very dangerous. He made more dribbles than anyone else on the field.
In fact, he also had an impressive five shots. It was cruel, at the end, that he didn’t get to score a goal against Berlin despite a great performance.
Maximilian Philipp(8.5/10): Looked very menacing on the left flank. The former Freiburg attacker was desperate to show his qualities, in his debut home game in Dortmund colours.
He had five shots on goal, and completed four dribbles but also had a few glorious opportunities to score. However, his work ethic is simply outstanding – and one that might help him succeed under Peter Bosz in the near future.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang(9/10): Despite not having many touches on the ball, Auba caused trouble for the Hertha defence, with his slick movements. The Gabonese International had three shots, all of which came inside the box.
But he also dropped back, most importantly, which was very pleasing for the fans. He scored his second goal of the season, with a sharp finish from a Nuri Sahin cross.
Subs
Omer Toprak(8/10): Replaced Sokratis inside the first half of the game, when the Greek defender took a knock. It was the first outing for Toprak in front of his home fans, and the Turkish defender was fairly solid throughout the rest of the game.
Shinji Kagawa(7/10): Came on in the second half, replacing a tired Mario Gotze. The Japanese was kind of clumsy with his passing on the night. Couldn’t make much of a difference.
Mahmoud Dahoud(NA): Came on late in the game, in place of a tiring Maximilian Philipp. He showed some lovely one touch passes before the ref blew the final whistle.
