Dortmund on top

German soccer leaders Borussia Dortmund earned a 2-0 victory over SV Hamburg on Friday, gaining three points on the table and widening their lead over second-place Mainz to seven points.

On a rainy night in Dortmund, the team showed off their skills to a sold-out crowd of 80,720. The outcome was far from certain at a goalless halftime, but Japanese midfielder Shinji Kagawa broke the deadlock four minutes into the second half with his sixth goal of the season.

Kagawa was instrumental in setting up goal number two, finished off by Paraguayan striker Lucas Barrios at close range in the 70th minute.

Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp had plenty to celebrate mid-week when uncapped defender Marcel Schmelzer, 22, and midfielder Mario Goetze, 18, were called onto the team, along with striker Kevin Grosskreutz and defender Mats Hummels.

"It was very difficult for us against an opponent who played so defensively," said Klopp after the game. "It took us a while to get into the game, but things worked better for us after the break. Hamburg came back into the game late on, which made life hard for us, but we are very happy with the win."

Klopp's side now has 31 points on the Bundesliga table, while Mainz, which plays at Hanover on Saturday, trails with 24. Hamburg's 18 points puts them in seventh place.

Ten points behind Dortmund in third place is Bayer Leverkusen, which plays St. Pauli on Saturday.

Dortmund's loss to Leverkusen on the season's first game day is the only blot on the team's near-perfect record of 10 wins.

Author: Andrew Bowen (AFP, dpa)
Editor: Andy Valvur