Borussia Dortmund takes down Erkenschwick, 5-2: Recap & Reaction

Borussia Dortmund took the field for its first preseason friendly in a match against SpVgg Erkenschwick. A pair of early goals put Dortmund ahead for good as they cruised to a 5-2 victory.

Debutant Ousmane Dembele, acquired from Stade Rennes, made his presence felt early. Dembele and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were way too fast for the Erkenschwick defenders to handle. Three minutes into the match, it was already too much.

Dembele completed a give-and-go with a calm finish into the back of the net to put BVB ahead. Less than 10 minutes later, the lead was doubled when Jacob Bruun-Larsen sent in a cross that deflected into the net off Erkenschwick defender Dennis Konarski.

The score remained 2-0 until the second half when Felix Passlack finished an effort from the center following a nice feed from Adrian Ramos. A header from Christoph Zimmerman made it 4-0 for BVB.

Dortmund remained relentless in possession and Gonzalo Castro struck a shot from distance past the Erkenschwick keeper to make it 5-0.

Erkenscwick would not go empty-handed. A couple lapses in concentration on defense gave Erkenschwick two consolation goals in the final ten minutes. The first came on a Dennis Konarski header that BVB keeper Hendrik Bonmann misplayed. The second goal was set up on a counter-attack and Lukas Abulhanov finished off a through-pass.

TOP PERFORMERS:

Ousmane Dembele - the kid is fast. He is a skilled passer and can run with the ball very well through the defense. Not to mention his finishing ability.

Jano Baxmann - the BVB U19 left-winger is clearly the future of the club. He saw a lot of the ball in the first half and created chance after chance. A couple more years of development and BVB will have another young, talented winger.

Felix Passlack - So. Many. Chances. Passlack just knows how to push forward in attack. It comes natural to him. He notched a goal and created a fair amount of chances inside the 18-yard box. A good afternoon from him.

OVERALL REACTION:

It’s the first match of the preseason so it’s good to see a lot of players getting minutes. Dortmund were relentless in attack and kept possession very well. Concerning was the two goals in the final ten minutes. Dortmund did so well last season at the end of matches and faltered Friday against a much weaker opponent. This is surely an issue for manager Thomas Tuchel to address. Otherwise, not much to complain about. A good team effort.