Haaland back on target in Wolfsburg thrashing

Borussia Dortmund 6-1 Wolfsburg
Goals: 1-0 Rothe 24’ (assist: Brandt), 2-0 Witsel 26’ (assist: Haaland), 3-0 Akanji 28’ (assist: Reus), 4-0 Can 35’ (assist: Wolf), 5-0 Haaland 38’ (assist: Reus), 6-0 Haaland 54’ (assist: Brandt), 6-1 Baku 81’

Wolfsburg actually started the brighter and had the first three attempts, including a golden chance for Lukas Nmecha getting onto the end of Max Kruse’s square ball, but he was denied from close range by Gregor Kobel. The Dortmund keeper then took on more of an observer’s role as his teammates got to work. Rothe started the flurry of goals when he nodded in Julian Brandt’s corner on 24 minutes. It was 2-0 moments later when Haaland teed up Axel Witsel to finish past compatriot Koen Casteels. Less than 120 second after that and it was three when Manuel Akanji turned in a Marco Reus free-kick. Emre Can brought up the fourth when the Wolves stood off him and allowed the Germany international to pick out the far corner on his left foot, with the ball going under Casteels’ arm. And it was five in the space of 14 minutes when Haaland got his first goal since January, putting away a simple tap-in after Reus had drawn out the Wolfsburg defence.

Wolves boss Florian Kohfeldt sacrificed Kruse for left-back Jerome Roussillon for the second half, but it didn’t stop BVB. The hosts made it a half-dozen not long after the restart when Brandt guided through for Haaland and he smashed into the roof of the net from the corner of the six-yard box. Substitute Aster Vranckx struck the top of the crossbar from 18 yards out, before Ridle Baku got the Wolves their consolation when he lashed into the top corner from the right of the box. The result and performance were the perfect preparation for Dortmund ahead of their crunch clash away to Bayern Munich in Der Klassiker next week. Wolfsburg know they still need a few more points to ensure their Bundesliga safety with four games to go.

• Haaland ended a 421-minute wait for a Bundesliga goal going back to Matchday 19 against Hoffenheim. He now has 18 in 20 appearances in 2021/22.
• Fourteen of those have come as part of seven braces. It’s the 22nd time in 63 Bundesliga appearances Haaland has scored more than one goal in a game.
• Rothe is only the eighth-youngest player to feature for BVB in the Bundesliga but is the youngest defender.
• He and Akanji were the 17th and 18th different goalscorers for Dortmund this season – a league high.
• This was the second time this season BVB had scored six goals, after beating Borussia Mönchengladbach 6-0. They last scored more than six in a game against Nuremberg in September 2018 (7-0).
• Baku got his third goal of the season and Wolfsburg's first away at Dortmund since Andre Schürrle six years ago.

Watch: Reus: "We were ruthless"

Dortmund: Kobel - Can, Akanji (Pongracic 65’), Zagadou – Wolf (Semic 88’), Witsel (Reiner 78’), Bellingham, Rothe (Bynoe-Gittens 88’) - Brandt (Moukoko 65’), Reus (c) - Haaland
Unused subs: Hitz, Schulz, Papadopoulos
Out: Dahoud (shoulder), Guerreiro (muscular), Hazard (back) Hummels (thigh), Malen (muscular), Meunier (hamstring), Morey (knee), Passlack (muscular), Reyna (hamstring), Schmelzer (knee), Tigges (ankle)
Coach: Marco Rose

Wolfsburg: Casteels (c) - Lacroix (Mbabu 45’), Bornauw, Brooks - Baku, Schlager (Vranckx 62’), Arnold, Gerhardt - Wind (Bialek 82’), Kruse (Roussillon 46’) - L. Nmecha (F. Nmecha 62’)
Unused subs: Pervan, Steffen, Philipp, Lukebakio
Out: Otavio (knee), Van de Ven (thigh), Waldschmidt (ankle), William (knee)
Coach: Florian Kohfeldt

Watch: Arnold: "I don't know why we're inconsistent"