BVB record hard-fought 4-1 victory over Hertha | OneFootball

Borussia Dortmund have extended their winning start to 2023 to eight games! BVB ran out 4-1 (2-0) victors against Hertha BSC at a sold-out SIGNAL IDUNA PARK on Bundesliga Matchday 21 and are now level on points with Bayern Munich.

Boris Rupert reporting

With a crowd of 81,365 watching on, BVB settled into their stride midway through the first half and scored two nicely worked goals through Adeyemi (27) and Malen (31) – although Kobel was forced to intervene several times at the other end and helped keep the 2-0 lead intact heading into the break. But the deficit was halved only 58 seconds after the restart when Tousart pulled a goal back for the opposition, who held their own for long spells. It was only in the 76th minute that Reus settled the nerves by making it 3-1 via a free-kick, with Brandt later upping the score to 4-1 (90).

The scenario:   Third versus 16th. The team with the best home record against the fourth-worst away side. BVB had won seven of their previous eight league meetings with Hertha.

Personnel matters:With the exception of Moukoko, Duranville and Morey, the whole squad was available. Coach Terzic made four changes to the XI that started the intense Champions League clash with Chelsea (1-0) four days earlier, with Hummels, Ryerson, Reus and Malen replacing Süle, Guerreiro, Bellingham and Haller (all bench).

Tactics:Borussia lined up in a 4-1-4-1 formation with Can frequently dropping between the two centre-backs, who then moved further apart, during build-up play. Brandt, on the right of the attacking midfield quartet, frequently drifted into the middle and played alongside Reus, with Özcan a few metres further back. Malen led the line in attack. Hertha defended in a 5-3-2, tried to press high especially when Borussia took goal-kicks, and switched to a 3-5-2 in possession.

The match & analysis:With the game coming at the end of the second "English week" on the bounce and the third in the space of four weeks since the winter break, it took BVB until midway through the first half to find a purposeful and orderly style of play. The first dangerous shooting attempts fell to the visitors, with Ngankam firing over in the 12th minute and both Niederlechner and Richter testing Kobel (21).

It was not until Reus headed Brandt's cross about two metres wide of the right upright in the 25th minute that the fans were on the edge of their seats for the first time. Barely two minutes later, they were on their feet. After a long ball from Hertha had been intercepted, a quick counter-attack was launched in the other direction: Brandt allowed Can's pass to bounce through to Reus, who accelerated through the Hertha half and pulled the trigger on the edge of the box. The ball would have gone wide but Adeyemi was in the right place, spinning on a sixpence and flicking the ball into the goal (27). Four minutes later, the Black & Yellows stopped an attack deep in their own half. Reus fed Brandt, who played a through-ball over to Adeyemi on the left flank. Running at full sprint and under pressure from the opposition, he crossed towards the far post for Malen to slot home and make it 2-0.

The downside, however, was that Adeyemi had injured his left thigh in the run-up to his assist and had to be helped off the pitch by the physiotherapy team. He was replaced by Bynoe-Gittens. BVB's play grew more disjointed again thereafter, with Kobel twice preventing a possible Hertha goal from Cigerci (36) and Richter (37).

The Hertha goal, which had been on the cards for a while, came directly after the restart. The visitors switched the play quickly after winning the ball back, Ngankam was given more or less free rein on the left of the BVB box and his cutback was fired in off the underside of the bar by the unmarked Tousart from 11 metres (46). BVB were under fire. Kobel had to draw on all his ability to deny Niederlechner (51), before Plattenhardt fired narrowly wide (52). Borussia did subsequently regain control over the game but their ventures forward were for the most part too chaotic and imprecise: Malen's pass to Bynoe-Gittens, who shot first-time from a centre-left position in the box, did not beat keeper Christensen (65). Bellingham and Haller came on for Özcan and Malen directly afterwards, with Hertha bringing on four players in one go.

It was a set-piece a quarter of an hour from time that re-established the two-goal lead: Reus took the free-kick from 20 metres, curling it over the wall and into the top corner of the goal. A dream strike. Shortly before the end of normal time, Bellingham won the ball back 20 metres from the Hertha goal and Bynoe-Gittens played it into the path of Brandt, who made it 4-1 (90).

Outlook:Up next on the agenda are two "normal" weeks. BVB are away to TSG Hoffenheim next Saturday, with Leipzig then set to pay a visit to Dortmund the following Friday (3 March).

Teams & goals

Bundesliga Matchday 21BORUSSIA DORTMUND 4-1 (2-0) HERTHA BSC