Sancho, Reus and Götze keep title race alive

Freiburg 0-4 Borussia Dortmund
Goals: 0-1 Sancho (11'), 0-2 Reus (54'), 0-3 Götze (79'), 0-4 Alcacer (pen. 87')

Following Bayern’s 1-0 victory over Werder Bremen 24 hours earlier, Dortmund didn’t waste any time redressing the balance at the Schwarzwald-Stadion. Reus instigated a picture-perfect passing move with Raphael Guerreiro and Götze, before continuing his run into the box and steering a cute ball into the six-yard area for Sancho to poke beyond Alexander Schwolow. Reus later tested the Freiburg stopper with a well-struck free-kick, but BVB didn’t have things entirely their own way and needed Roman Bürki to be alert to a couple of presentable openings for Gian-Luca Waldschmidt and Vincenzo Grifo.

Dortmund survived another scare soon after the restart when Christian Günter’s marauding run triggered a moment of panic in the 18-yard box before Bürki intervened, coming off his line to make a big claim. BVB duly went up the other end to double their lead, with Guerreiro nonchalantly rolling his marker and threading an intuitive pass into the path of Reus, who made no mistake with the finish. Götze got in on the act after another eye-catching passing exchange involving Sancho and Reus, before substitute striker Alcacer put the icing on the cake from the penalty spot late on.

• Sancho has opened the scoring six times this season. Only Hoffenheim’s Andrej Kramaric has done so more often (13).
• Reus registered his 16th goal and seventh and eighth assists of the season.
• Götze scored his first away Bundesliga goal since December 2016.
• Alcacer has scored 12 of his 17 Bundesliga goals as a substitute.
• BVB have not lost this season in games in which they have taken a 1-0 lead (W21, D3).
• Christian Pulisic returned to the Dortmund squad following a three-game absence.

Freiburg: Schwolow – Stenzel, K. Schlotterbeck, Heintz, Günter – Haberer (Terrazzino 77'), Höfler, Frantz (c) (Gondorf 70'), Grifo – Waldschmidt, Niederlechner (Daferner 66')
Unused subs: Frommann, Abrashi, Koch, N. Schlotterbeck
Out: Flekken (groin), Gulde (back), Höler (flu), Kleindienst (knee), Kübler (ankle), Lienhart (concussion), Petersen (hamstring), Sallai (groin)
Coach: Christian Streich

Dortmund: Bürki – Wolf (Toprak 56'), Weigl, Akanji, Diallo – Witsel, Delaney – Sancho, Reus (c), Guerreiro (Pulisic 71') – Götze (Alcacer 79')
Unused subs: Hitz, Dahoud, Schmelzer, Bruun Larsen
Out: Hakimi (metatarsal), Piszczek (foot), Zagadou (knee)
Coach: Lucien Favre