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Reus seals big win for Borussia Dortmund

August 26, 2018

New captain Marco Reus put the finishing touches on a 4-1 win over RB Leipzig that wasn't entirely comfortable for Borussia Dortmund. Mahmoud Dahoud and Axel Witsel both scored their first league goals for the club.

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Fußball 1. Bundesliga | Borussia Dortmund v RB Leipzig (2:1)
Image: Reuters/W. Rattay

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Borussia Dortmund 4 - 1 RB Leipzig
(Dahoud 21', Sabitzer (og) 40', Witsel 43', Reus 90+1 - Augustin 1')

In the end if felt more comfortable than it was. As Marco Reus celebrated being named Dortmund captain with his second injury-time goal in a week, Jean-Kevin Augustin's opener after 31 seconds seemed a lifetime away.

Lucien Favre's opening league salvo as Dortmund coach had an air of familiarity about it, with BVB often electric going forward but vulnerable on the back foot. After the shock of Augustin's early strike, Mahmoud Dahoud performed an act of contortion to head in a sublime Marcel Schmelzer cross before Marcel Sabitzer inadvertently flicked Reus's free kick in to his own net. 

Axel Witsel got in on the act just before the break, grabbing his second in two Dortmund games with a close range bicycle kick after Peter Gulacsi palmed away Thomas Delaney's powerful header. Delaney, Dahoud and Witsel made for a powerful and purposeful midfield trio.

Early in the second period Dortmund keeper Roman Bürki came to the fore with a stunning reflex save from Lukas Klostermann's thunderous volley before denying substitute Timo Werner late on.

Their soft underbelly meant Dortmund's fans could only really breathe easily when Reus collected a pass from Jadon Sancho, after Ibrahima Konate gave away possession, to hammer beyond Gulacsi and send the Yellow Wall home happy.

As it happened

FULL TIME

90+1 - An excellent counter attacking goal. Konate gives the ball away to Dahoud in a terrible area and the midfielder finds Sancho who, in turn, slips in Reus. The newly-appointed Dortmund skipper slides it home across goal with his left foot. Done and dusted.

90+1 - GOAL! 4-1 Borussia Dortmund (Reus)

89' - Konate goes to ground to concede a corner on Leipzig's right. Dortmund want to just keep hold of the ball now.

87' - Dortmund make their final change now. Guerreiro on for Schmelzer.

85' - Bürki again. This time Werner is through on the left, he drives low across goal but Bürki sticks out a leg. Leipzig now throw on Bruma for Demme. And the winger is on it straight away, stinging Bürki's palms from the edge of the box.

82' - Another corner for Leipzig and again Dortmund clear, this time it's Akanji. The ball comes back but Delaney shepherds it away from Upamecano. Leipzig have huffed and puffed in the second period but not created an enormous amount.

79' - Cunha wriggles his way in to half a yard down the right but Leipzig waste the subsequent corner. 

77' - Saracchi fails to beat the first man from the free kick and Dortmund bring on Jadon Sancho for Christian Pulisic.

74' - Kampl, who has been busy all game, dinks one over the defense trying to find another run from Klostermann. But it's slightly over-cooked. All Leipzig at the minute, as Dahoud goes in to the box after Werner did him with a lovely turn.

72' - Rangnick makes his move now. Goalscorer Augustin is replaced by new Brazilian signing Cunha, who has impressed in the Europa League. That should mean Werner plays more through the middle.

70' - Dortmund substitution. Marius Wolf makes his first league appearance for Dortmund, he's on for Max Philipp.

69' - Poulsen is now fouled near the halfway line. Werner picks up the loose ball and is away but the referee pulls it back for the foul. That was a questionable call.

68' - More penalty appeals for Leipzig. Again they come down the right, as Werner finds Klostermann on the overlap. He drives it low but it's just behind Poulsen. The Dane is bundled over but the referee is having none of it. 

65' - Leipzig's turn to come forward, this time down the right, but Dortmund squeeze it behind for a corner, which comes to nothing. 

61' - Leipzig are getting turned around so easily. Dahoud slips one through the two center backs and Reus should be through, but he can't quite bring it under his spell.

57' - Slightly odd one this. Werner is shielding the ball in Dortmund's box when Schmelzer comes flying in. It looked to me like full back got none of the ball but Werner didn't appeal. I'd like to see that again. Dortmund then break rapidly and effectively and the ball is rolled in to Dahoud eight yards out but he blazes high over the bar. Should have made it four there.

55' - Pulisic turns on the burners and reaches Reus's overhit pass out on the right to buy a corner. Delaney wins it but can't get over the header. The former Bremen man has been everywhere today.

53' - There's the other side of Bürki, who drops Forsberg long range free kick before recovering. 

50' - What a save! Kampl and Werner combine smartly on the left and the Germany striker stands it up to the back post. Klostermann comes charging in and catches the volley sweetly but Bürki reacts at lightening speed to stick out a glove and tip it over.  That's the second top class save the Swiss stopper has made today. 

47' - Upamecano gets in a mess again and Konate is forced to whack it in to the stands. Leipizig's young center backs have really struggled today. Both seem to want too much time on the ball. The throw is worked to Delaney on the left, he whips a lovely ball in but it evades everyone.

46' - We're back underway and Timo Werner is on the pitch. He's replaced Sabitzer.

HALF TIME

And breathe. That was as frenetic a half as you'll see at the top level. Leipzig started at breakneck speed and got their reward after just 31 seconds. But once Dortmund found their feet going forward, the Red Bulls - and their two 19-year-old center backs - struggled to cope. Both sides look dangerous going forward and terrible at the back. The scoring may not be finished yet.

43' - No doubt about the scorer here. Delaney powers a header from a corner towards goal and it's brilliantly saved by Gulacsi. But the rebound drops kindly to the Belgian, who hooks it on on the volley from close range. What a turnaround and that's 2 in 2 games for Witsel.

43' - GOAL! 3-1 Borussia Dortmund (Witsel)

40' - This one may go down as a Sabitzer own goal. It was an excellent whipped freekick from Reus on the left, level with the corner of the penalty box. Sabitzer got a head to it but ended up flicking it over his own keeper.

40' - GOAL! 2-1 Borussia Dortmund (Reus)

38' - A lovely soft shoe shuffle allows Kampl to set Klostermann away down the right but his cross is just too high for Poulsen. The Danish striker hits the deck and half-heartedly appeals for a penalty. But the referee, is quite rightly, dismissive.

34' - Konate sticks out a leg and just prevents Reus from getting in behind Leipzig. Real end to end stuff this.

29' - Augustin should score his second here. Forsberg finds a lovely reverse ball and the French forward is one-on-one with Bürki. He opens his body early to put it to the keeper's left, which allows Bürki to make an excellent save.

27' - Poulsen is causing Dortmund some real problems. Diallo and Akanji don't deal with a simple high ball well and then the former makes a right mess of his clearance but Bürki manages to clear up.

25' - That was Dahoud's first Dortmund goal and his first strike since April 2017.

23' - Saracchi goes in the book for his third foul. The Leipzig left back is in a bit of danger here, he looks rash in the tackle and Pulisic is not a man to mark when you're on an early yellow.

21' - This is a lovely goal. Again it comes down the left and Schmelzer whips in a real tempter of a ball. Dahoud is charging in and it's slightly behind him but he adjusts to power a brilliant, acrobatic header psat Gulacsi. 

21' - GOAL! 1-1 Borussia Dortmund (Dahoud)

20' - A couple of half chances for Dortmund. First Delaney gets a shot away after some nice work down the left, then Reus has an effort on the half-turn blocked.

19' - We have little break in play as Augustin limps off for some treatment. It's not quite clear what happened to him.

17' - Poulsen, who has been impressive so far, combines nicely with Forsberg but it just runs away from the Swede. Dortmund really struggling with Leipzig's press. The away side have already played five more games than their opponents this season.

15' - This has been a breathless opening, with both sides happy to commit men forward. First Piszczek almost breaks through for Dortmund, then Leipzig just over-play on the edge of the Dortmund box.

11' - Poulsen slips one down the line to Sabitzer after Dortmund tossed away possession. Schmelzer gets back but concedes a corner. Kampl attempts a one-two from it but the flag goes up when he fires the ball back across Sunday league stuff there.

7' - Slightly better from Dortmund now. Reus carries it forward and is eventually dispossessed. Then Dahoud finds Pulisic and the American's cross is cleared for a corner, which comes to nothing. Just before that, Upamecano got booked for a rash tackle on Delaney in the middle of the park. Incidentally, the goal was timed at 31 seconds.

4' - Well, what a shocking start from Dortmund, whose defensive deficiencies have already come back to haunt them. Leipzig have buzzed around them since the goal and the men in yellow look nervous. They manage to win a corner but then commit a foul from it.

2' - What a start from the visitors! Diallo pumped a routine clearance up in to the air and Leipzig recovered it. Poulsen then turned one round the corner and Augustin slid home. I think that was scored in less than 30 seconds.

1' - GOAL! 1-0 RB Leipzig (Augustin)

1' - And we're off! Dortmund get us underway at a noisy Signal Iduna Park.

17:55 - The teams are out. No huge surprises from Dortmund but Favre does  leave Mario Götze on the bench. Abdou Diallo makes his BVB Bundesliga debut while Axel Witsel and Thomas Delaney also make their Bundesliga bows in yellow and black. It looks as if either Max Philipp or Marco Reus will be the nominal striker.

But there is a shock for Leipzig, with Timo Werner on the bench. The Germany striker had a tough World Cup but is normally an automatic pick. Jean-Kevin Augustin will presumably fill the striking berth tonight. 

17:45 - Hello! And welcome to DW's live coverage of the final game of the Bundesliga's opening weekend. The fixture list has thrown up a real cracker first up, with little love lost between these two sides. There's more on that in our preview.

Despite the contrast in financial philosophy and history these two sides have thrown up some memorable moments in their four meetings to date. The Red Bulls broke Borussia Dortmund's 41-match unbeaten home record last October with a thrilling 3-2 win and picked up their first ever Bundesliga home victory against the same opponents thanks to Naby Keita's late goal in September 2016. 

BVB'S only win came in the return fixture that same season and the pair shared a 1-1 draw in the other game. But with home advantage, and with Leipzig having been busy in the Europa League, new Dortmund boss Lucien Favre may well fancy his chances. The visitors also have a new man in the hotseat, sort of. Ralf Rangnick again takes over coaching duties while Leipzig await the arrival of Julian Nagelsmann at the end of the season. It should be a cracker.