Dortmund come up short in title race

Borussia Mönchengladbach 0-2 Borussia Dortmund
Goals: 0-1 Sancho (45’), 0-2 Reus (54’)

Both sides had everything to play for with the title on the line for Dortmund, and a place in the UEFA Champions League for Gladbach. With so much riding on the game, nerves were high in the opening period. Ibrahima Traore had Dortmund hearts in mouths after 12 minutes when his curling shot hit the woodwork, which brought the game to life. Half-chances came and went for both sides, with Lukasz Piszczek and Nico Elvedi both glancing headers wide. Just before the break, Dortmund’s first shot on target of the half brought with it the game’s first goal. Thomas Delaney’s long ball was inch-perfect for Reus, who took possession into the home side’s box. His first effort was blocked but the captain kept the ball in play by a matter of millimetres before looping a cross to the back post, where Sancho was on hand to find the top corner of Yann Sommer’s net. The Englishman’s 12th goal of the season, to go with his league-leading 14 assists, put Dortmund in the driving seat by half-time.

The second half began as the first ended, with Dortmund finding the net. Mario Götze found Sancho, who in turn played Christian Pulisic in behind the Foals’ defence. The American, making his final appearance for BVB before switching to Chelsea this summer, then cut the ball across for Reus, who calmly found the bottom corner. The away side continued to pile on the pressure, with Sancho’s shot deflecting off Elvedi and onto Sommer’s far post. Dortmund remained in control but their fate was ultimately out of their hands, as Bayern Munich cruised to a seventh straight title in Munich against Eintracht Frankfurt. Gladbach, meanwhile, slipped out of the top four as Bayer Leverkusen snatched the final Champions League spot with a comfortable victory over Hertha Berlin.

• Sancho got his 12th goal of the season, adding to his league-high 14 assists for the campaign.
• Reus netted his 17th of the season, setting a new single-season scoring record with Dortmund. He scored 18 for Gladbach in 2011/12.
• Dortmund ended the season two points behind Bayern, having led them by as many as nine earlier in the campaign.
• Pulisic made his 90th and final Bundesliga appearance as a Dortmund player before his summer move to Chelsea.
• Dortmund took 32 points from their 17 away games this season. Gladbach collected 30 from the same number of home games.
• Hecking took charge of Gladbach for the last time. He has overseen 99 Bundesliga matches since coming in as coach in December 2016, and will be replaced by Marco Rose this summer.

Line-ups

Gladbach: Sommer (c) – Beyer, Ginter, Elvedi, Wendt – Hofmann, Kramer (Strobl 63’), Zakaria – Traore (Plea 66'), Drmic, Hazard (Herrmann 75')
Unused subs: Sippel, Lang, Jantschke, Cuisance
Out: Doucoure (thigh), Neuhaus (suspended), Raffael (calf), Stindl (shin)
Coach: Dieter Hecking

Dortmund: Bürki – Piszczek, Weigl, Akanji, Guerreiro – Witsel, Delaney – Sancho (Dahoud 87'), Reus (c) (Schmelzer 83'), Pulisic - Götze (Alcacer 75')
Unused subs: Hitz, Zagadou, Bruun Larsen, Toprak
Out: Diallo (knock), Hakimi (metatarsal), Wolf (suspended)
Coach: Lucien Favre

Watch: Marco Reus targets even bigger title push next season