MotM Poll: Dortmund Make it Four Wins in Four

On paper, this was a close one; Freiburg had rebounded well from a 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Wolfsburg and were level on points with us heading into this tie. We know all too well how BVB have been susceptible to the occasional big-game implosion in the past. However, Freiburg had every right to be concerned, as they went down to 10 inside the first 20 minutes after Killian Sildillia received his second yellow card in two minutes. We scored less than 10 minutes later, with Schlotti squeezing in a shot from a tight angle following a corner. 10-man Freiburg seemed content to just sit back and attempt to weather the storm, and it looked as though their plan had worked when we conceded at the stroke of half-time. The concern was only momentary, however, as the boys came out of the dressing room and blew the hapless Breisgauer out of the water. Great performances all around, but here are my picks for Man of the Match:

Raphaël Guerreiro

I think we were all a little nervous about his inclusion in the starting XI, but he was absolutely superb today. His movement off the ball and link-up play caused the rather static Freiburg backline all kinds of trouble, and he grabbed himself THREE assists. It’s always amazing to see Rapha turn on the style; performances like this make me sad about his expected departure in the summer.

Julian Brandt

Playing wide? No problem. Brandt’s season continues to go from strength to strength, as he gave the Freiburg defense nightmares all game long. While ostensibly playing as a winger, he floated around, acting as our creative focal point and adding real fluidity to the attack. By the numbers, he had an exceptional game, too, as he completed the most dribbles and made the most key passes of anyone on the pitch. That goal wasn’t half bad either, was it?

Karim Adeyemi

Karim looks a man reborn after the break. That’s two goals in two games for him, and yet another performance full of running and energy. He was the most fouled player today, getting taken out five times, and that’s representative of how difficult it was for Freiburg to deal with the electric German forward (who is now the fastest player in Bundesliga history at 36.65 km/h). It is also worth noting that he “won” the red card for Sildillia, both of whose bookings were for fouls on him.

Photo by Alexandre Simoes/Borussia Dortmund via Getty Images

Sébastien Haller

F*CK CANCER. That’s it.