Borussia Dortmund thrashed Union Berlin 6-0 to secure Niko Kovac’s first Bundesliga win as Dortmund head coach.
For the first time in a very long time, Dortmund actually looked like a functioning and potentially good footballing team. The hosts were on top for the majority of the first half as Union never really troubled them when going forward, but it did take Dortmund until the 25th minute when they were able to break the deadlock. Former Eisener Julian Ryerson’s effort was diverted into the net by Diogo Leite before Dortmund won the ball back in Union’s final third and a Pascal Groß cross was met at point-blank range by Serhou Guirassy to make it 2-0.
Union didn’t improve after the break and Dortmund continued to be the better side but the first 30 minutes of the second half were rather quiet. Then the goals started to flood in, Guirassy would complete his hat-trick within five minutes first scoring from a reverse pass from Groß before adding a tap-in from a Maximilian Beier cutback, then he would add a fourth for himself and a fifth for Dortmund after heading in another Groß cross. The former Brighton midfielder was not done there either as he would then assist Beier with another cross for the sixth for Dortmund.
A big win for Dortmund, not just in terms of goals scored but performances as well. Guirassy continued to show why he is one of Die Schwarzgelben’s most important players, Beier and Groß (more on him later) also put in great performances as both have struggled in their first seven months at the club. Elsewhere, Carney Chukwuemeka made a very positive first Bundesliga appearance with a pre-assist (or hockey assist if you are North American) for Guirassy’s third goal, after the stale performances of Julian Brandt and Giovanni Reyna, the Chelsea loanee looks like a breath of fresh air in the position and could be a real asset to Dortmund for the remainder of the season as they look for a revival.
Union on the other hand, after a brief uptick under Steffen Baumgart, do not look any better under the Rostock native compared to under his predecessor Bo Svensson. The only positive for them is Holstein Kiel, Heidenheim, Bochum and Hoffenheim are worse than them.
As things stand, Dortmund are five points off of the European places.
Borussia Dortmund XI:
Gregor Kobel (5), Julian Ryerson (6), Emre Can (5), Nico Schlotterbeck (5), Ramy Bensebaini (5), Marcel Sabitzer (5), Pascal Groß (9), Maximilian Beier (7) Giovanni Reyna (4), Karim Adeyemi (6), Serhou Guirassy (8)
Others: Carney Chukwuemeka (6), Daniel Svensson (6), Jamie Gittens (-), Salih Özcan (-), Yan Couto (-)
Union Berlin XI:
Fredrick Ronnow (3), Josip Juranovic (4), Danilho Doekhi (4), Diogo Leite (4), Tom Rothe (5), Lucas Tousart (5), Rani Khedira (5), Woo-Yeong Jeong (5) Andras Schäfer (5), Benedict Hollerbach (5), Andrej Ilic (5)
Others: Janik Haberer (5), Laszlo Benes (5), Marin Ljubicic (5), Tim Skarke (5), Leopold Querfeld (-)
GGFN Man of the Match: Pascal Groß (9)
You: How did Serhou Guirassy not get the man of the match after scoring four goals?
Me: Without Groß, Guirassy wouldn’t have had the chance to score those goals.
There have been doubts surrounding the physical attributes of the 33-year-old in recent weeks. While his speed may still be an issue, his technical quality is not. Groß was everywhere, the midfielder was not restricted to a central position and was allowed to drift across the pitch. This is where he made the most difference, in particular when he would drift out to either flank which then gave him the space to play in these crosses that proved so deadly.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
