MUNICH: Borussia Dortmund scored three second-half goals as they crushed Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0 in the Bundesliga on Friday to take over second place.
Dortmund spectacularly bounced back from two consecutive defeats in the German Cup and league last week, filling up on confidence ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League Round of 16 first leg at home to Paris St Germain.
Defender Lukasz Piszczek found space to drill home for the lead in the 33rd minute with the hosts having to stay patient against a hard-working Eintracht.
But the visitors, who had enjoyed their best start to a year in half a century with three wins out of four games, only put up a fight for 45 minutes and threw in the towel after the restart.
Jadon Sancho latched onto a pinpoint Axel Witsel pass to score with a fine finish in the 50th and Erling Haaland tapped home four minutes later for his eighth goal in his fifth league game, a Bundesliga record.
With the Eintracht defense in disarray, Raphael Guerreiro, who hit the post with a first-half free-kick, made amends in the 74th, scoring with a powerful shot from 20 metres after a sloppy clearance.
Dortmund had suffered a shock 3-2 German Cup defeat by Werder Bremen 10 days ago before losing 4-3 to Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.
“It was extremely important to keep a clean sheet today,” said Dortmund defender Mats Hummels. “We also did not give them many chances. This was not a clean sheet for the defense but for the entire team.”
The Ruhr valley club has 42 points and is above third-placed RB Leipzig, who host Werder Bremen on Saturday, on goal difference, while also moving within a point of Bayern Munich before the leaders visit Cologne on Sunday. Agencies