Haaland helps Dortmund down Schalke

Borussia Dortmund 3-0 Schalke
Goals: 1-0 Akanji (55'), 2-0 Haaland (61'), 3-0 Hummels (78')

With RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich both winning their fixtures on Saturday, the ball was back in Dortmund's court with bitter local rivals Schalke keen as always to throw a spanner in the works and get their own season up and running at the same time. This was reflected in the first half with Dortmund showing all the urgency and the Royal Blues repelling all the Black-and-Yellows threw their way. The closest Dortmund came to scoring in a one-sided opening 45 minutes came from a speculative long-range Mahmoud Dahoud effort which clipped the top of Frederik Rönnow's crossbar, with the Schalke goalkeeper called on only twice to make saves.

Dortmund continued to ask the questions early in the second half, and Schalke defender Salif Sane almost provided the answer as he headed dangerously towards his own goal. His relief at seeing the ball clear his own crossbar soon turned to disappointment as Dortmund finally broke the deadlock from the resulting corner, and from an unlikely outlet. Raphael Guerreiro exchanged passes with Julian Brandt and the former's stinging volley was only parried by Rönnow to Akanji, who showed the predatory reactions of a striker to turn in the loose ball. The deadlock now broken, Dortmund eased into a two-goal lead with Haaland taking Jadon Sancho's pass in his stride and lifting the ball expertly past Rönnow. Haaland was denied a second by a full-stretch Rönnow save before Mats Hummels rose to head in unstoppably from a corner. It was the 19th goal Schalke have conceded this season, leaving them still in the relegation zone with just one point as Dortmund joined Bayern on 12 points.

• Akanji scored his only other Bundesliga goal in 69 appearances back in September 2018, in a 7-0 home win over Nuremberg.
• Haaland has 18 goals in his first 20 Bundesliga games – a record bettered only by Uwe Seeler, who scored 19 in his first 20 in 1963/64.
• The Norwegian now has 23 goals in 26 competitive outings for BVB.
• Hummels is unbeaten in his last 12 encounters with Schalke for both Dortmund and Bayern, winning nine and drawing three.
• Marco Reus has only scored once in nine derby outings against the Royal Blues, back in February 2015.
• Schalke's Benjamin Stambouli tasted Revierderby defeat for the first time, after two wins and four draws in his previous six.

Watch: Haaland: "I've been training my right foot!"

Dortmund: Bürki - Meunier (Morey 80'), Hummels, Akanji, Guerreiro - Dahoud (Witsel 71'), Delaney - Sancho (Hazard 77'), Brandt (Reus 77'), Reyna (Passlack 71') - Haaland
Unused subs: Hitz, Reinier, Bellingham, Piszczek
Out: Can (not included), Schmelzer (knee), Zagadou (knee)
Coach: Lucien Favre

Schalke: Rönnow - Ludewig, Thiaw, Sane, Nastasic, Oczipka - Mascarell (c), Bentaleb (Bozdogan 56') - Harit - Matondo (Raman 71'), Paciencia (Kutucu 56')
Unused subs: Langer, Mendyl, Ibisevic, Stambouli, Skrzybski, Schöpf
Out: Fährmann (groin), Kabak (suspended), Serdar (thigh), Uth (muscular)
Coach: Manuel Baum

Watch: Haaland: "We'll take a 3-0 win over Schalke!"