Bundesliga
Achraf Hakimi, Marco Reus and Jacob Bruun Larsen's brace completed Borussia Dortmund's perfect pre-season with six wins out of six after a 4-1 victory over St. Gallen and former Hertha Berlin shot-stopper Jonathan Klinsmann on Tuesday.
St. Gallen 1-4 Borussia Dortmund
Goals: 0-1 Hakimi (3'), 0-2 Bruun Larsen (31'), 0-3 Bruun Larsen (43'), 1-3 Vilotic (45+2'), 1-4 Reus (64')
Dortmund’s second friendly of the day followed a 6-0 drubbing of FC Zürich, with Jadon Sancho scoring a hat-trick, Paco Alcacer a brace and Thomas Delaney completing the scoring. More goals came against St. Gallen and early on, Achraf Hakimi tapping home from Nico Schulz’s low pass across the face of Jonathan Klinsmann’s goal. The former Hertha Berlin goalkeeper was unable to celebrate his famous father’s birthday in style, and was soon picking the ball out of his net once again. Axel Witsel’s superb ball forward beat the St. Gallen defence and was headed towards goal by Jacob Bruun Larsen, with the ball dribbling through the legs of Klinsmann and into the net. A third was added by the Denmark international before the break, as he was on the end of another Schulz assist. The home side did get on the scoresheet before the end of the first half, though, as Milan Vilotic was quickest to the rebound from a free-kick which Marwin Hitz saved fantastically.
Lucien Favre’s side remained in control at the start of the second half, but both goalkeepers produced good saves to keep the score the same. Eventually, Dortmund added a fourth goal through captain Marco Reus. The recently named German Footballer of the Year for 2019 was played in one-on-one with Klinsmann by Mario Götze’s outstanding back-heel pass, and confidently slotted the ball past the St. Gallen goalkeeper. Gio Reyna came on for the final 15 minutes of the game, as Dortmund cruised to victory to complete a perfect pre-season with six wins from six matches.
Line-ups
St. Gallen: Klinsmann – Rüfli, Vilotic, Letard, Kchouk – Quintilla (c), Alves, Guillemenot, Kräuchi – Costanzo, Campos (Kutesa 74')
Subs: Stojanovic, Stergiou, Bakayoko, Muheim, Fazliji, Staubli, Solimando, Babic
Out: Babic (unknown), Lüchinger (surgical recovery), Nuhu (knee), Staubli (unknown), Vilotic (unknown), Wiss (knee)
Coach: Peter Zeidler
Dortmund: Hitz - Hakimi, Hummels, Toprak (Zagadou 77'), Schulz - Weigl, Witel - Morey, Reus (c), Bruun Larsen (Pherai 74') – Götze (Reyna 74')
Subs: Reckert, Gomez
Out: Brandt (groin), Hazard (ankle)
Coach: Lucien Favre
Watch: Highlights of Dortmund's earlier win over Zürich, including Sancho's hat-trick!
88' - DORTMUND CRUISING
BVB are heading towards a sixth pre-season win from six matches, perfectly setting themselves up for the Supercup this weekend and the start of the Bundesliga in just over two weeks time.
72' - DORTMUND SUBS
Götze comes off to be replaced by 16-year-old Gio Reyna, while Pherai is on in place of Bruun Larsen.
64' - GOAL! 1-4 DORTMUND!
Reus has his goal after being played clean through on goal by an outstanding back-heel pass from Götze. He composes himself before slotting the ball past Klinsmann into the left bottom corner of the goal.
63' - HAKIMI GOES CLOSE
The Moroccan international is now playing on the right wing, and finds himself in time and space in the St. Gallen box. He looks to play the ball for Reus to tap home, but the defence clears the ball.
57' - ALMOST BRUUN LARSEN'S HAT-TRICK!
Klinsmann's clearance falls to Witsel in the St. Gallen half, and he finds Hakimi on the right flank. The full-back turns well and plays the ball to Bruun Larsen inside the box, and his first-time shot was superbly saved by the German-born goalkeeper.
48' - ANOTHER HITZ SAVE
Hitz comes to the rescue again as Campos finds space behind the BVB defence after being played the ball. His early shot goes straight at Hitz, and he does well to parry the ball away from his own goal.
SECOND HALF UNDERWAY
We're back underway after half-time, no changes for either side here at the break.
HALF-TIME!
A solid enough half for Dortmund who dominated possession and the attacking play. Disappointing to concede a goal late on, but Favre will be happy with Hummels, Schulz and Witsel especially who have been fantastic so far.
45+2' - GOAL! 1-3 ST. GALLEN!
A goal for St. Gallen as a stunning free-kick forces an equally great save from Hitz, but the rebound from his parry falls to Vilotic, who smashes the ball home before the half-time whistle is blown.
43' - GOAL! 0-3 DORTMUND!
It's three for BVB and it's two for Bruun Larsen, and another assist for Schulz. Götze plays a pass to his left to find the overlapping run of the German left-back. His low cross across the face of goal finds Bruun Larsen at the back post, and his simple finish makes it 3-0 to Favre's side.
31' - GOAL! 0-2 DORTMUND!
It's a very strange goal, but one Dortmund won't mind. A stunning long ball forward from Witsel is searching for Bruun Larsen, making a run into the box. The ball beats the defence and is headed on by the Dane, and the ball rolls through the legs of Klinsmann and into the St. Gallen net.
30' - CONFIDENT PLAY, NO MORE GOALS...
It's been a confident performance from Dortmund so far. Each player looking very happy on the ball, and happy to keep possession rather than force the play. Hummels has, once again, been more than happy to push the more difficult pass, and it has worked out more often than not. Dortmund will want to get Reus into the game more if they are to extend their lead before the break.
23' - BIG SAVE FROM HITZ!
Dortmund's number two goalkeeper shows what he's capable of here as St. Gallen are through on goal, with Guillemenot through one-on-one with Hitz. The forward looks to take the ball around Hitz, but the Swiss shot-stopper is equal to his efforts to keep the ball out of his net.
20' - CHANCE!
A quick cross from the right flank is angled perfectly towards Bruun Larsen, but the Dane can't get his shot on target this time. St. Gallen have grown into this game slowly, but Dortmund remain in control of the possession and the proceedings.
12' - WEIGL STARTING WELL
The man alongside Witsel tonight, Julian Weigl, is also having a bright start. He's finding lots of space in the midfield and picking pass left, right and centre. It's also interesting to see how much further forward up the pitch he allows himself to play, knowing that a ball-happy centre-back such as Hummels is also behind him looking to spray the ball around the pitch.
7' - BVB STARTING STRONGLY
It's been dominant from front to back for BVB so far. Hummels is the man in control in defence, while Witsel has been all over in the early stages, connecting defence and attack through the midfield.
3' - GOAL! 1-0 DORTMUND!
Achraf Hakimi opens the scoring inside just three minutes for Dortmund with a well-worked team goal being finished off comfortably. It's an assist for Nico Schulz, who plays the ball to the far post from one side of the box to the other. Hakimi is alone to play the ball across the line.
KICK-OFF!
We're underway here with Dortmund in their yellow kit for the Bundesliga season. Reus is playing through the middle of the attack as the centre forward.
BVB FACE KLINSMANN
The former Hertha Berlin goalkeeper is in goal tonight for St. Gallen, having joined the Swiss side this summer. The son of German footballing legend, Jürgen, unable to celebrate his father's birthday today with him, instead playing in a crucial pre-season friendly.
DORTMUND'S OTHER FRIENDLY TODAY
Indeed there is no cause for concern for Dortmund fans, despite seeing the likes of Jadon Sancho, Paco Alcacer and other first-team players not involved this evening. In fact, this is BVB's second friendly of the day after earlier beating FC Zürich 6-0. Sancho bagged himself a hat-trick in the game, with Alcacer adding two more and Thomas Delaney completing the scoring.
WELCOME!
The teams are in and we're now only 15 minutes from kick-off for Dortmund's final pre-season match of the summer, before they face Bayern Munich in the Supercup on Saturday, 4 August.