Jurgen Klopp’s side extended its unbeaten streak to five matches after putting an early goal past Hertha Berlin and effortlessly seeing off a harmless capital team.
Less than ten minutes in and the ever-improving Henrikh Mkhitaryan whipped in an incisive corner, which the unmarked centre-half Neven Subotic headed home with apparent ease. A tame first half ensued, as Dortmund eased up and dared Hertha to attack. Pal Dardai’s men, however, seemed to have forgotten their shooting boots at home, and so it happened that just moments after half time, a slick shot by Erik Durm made it 2-0. It was another quick strike that took the wind out off Hertha’s sails and sealed the encounter for Dortmund at a surprisingly early stage.
A tale of two early goals
It appears that after 32 match days, Dortmund has finally appreciated the perks of scoring early. As suggested in our preview, for them to make this a safe three-point affair, a quick goal was needed in order to put all doubts to bed from early on. And sore quickly it did, twice. One pre-emptive strike per half virtually took the sting out of the match before it even got the chance to unroll. Spectators must have been taken aback by Dortmund’s uncharacteristic efficiency and its ability to pocket three points in such a calm and collected manner, much to the delight of Klopp, who admitted that ‘the timing of both goals was very favourable for our side’. The Black and Yellows have now won their last three home matches in a row without conceding a goal, which further instigated overjoyed Dortmund fans to boast the hashtag #CleanSheetMitch on social media.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ3Y_hQH48c
Why Klopp shot himself in the foot when he re-signed Shinji Kagawa
The story of Shinji Kagawa is also the story of Mkhitaryan, the player originally signed to fill Mario Goetze’s shoes as the playmaker at Westfalenstadion. He had a rough start and soon enough Klopp decided to take some pressure of him by moving him out wide and re-signing Kagawa to do the job in the middle of the park.
Today, Mkhitaryan’s play is flourishing. He pulls off dribbles at a blistering speed and also has the eye for his teammates, as evidenced by the two assists he provided against Hertha. Of the last eight Dortmund goals, Mkhitaryan scored or assisted five. Kagawa’s performance in turn pales into insignificance. His timing is off, he overlooks teammates, he is not threatening in front of goal. So shouldn’t they switch back positions? They should, but Klopp’s hands are tied because in 2013 he chose to publicly rebuke Manchester United for not playing Kagawa in central midfield. He is in an awkward predicament thanks to this pledge, one that future coach Thomas Tuchel will not be confronted with.
Fittingly, rumours purport that Tuchel has already requested to retain Mkhitaryan for next year and plans to reinstate him as the number 10.
Scrap within the team shows fighting spirit
One scene in particular typified Dortmund’s determination to avoid any more silly mistakes this season. Late in the game, Mkhitaryan got hold of the ball in his own half and, with little support from teammates, opted for a risky nutmeg attempt rather than clearing the ball out of the danger zone. While he was impeded by a Berlin player and eventually got the foul, Mats Hummels was not having any of it. He stormed towards him and gave Mkhitaryan, still on the ground, a proper mouthful.
Tempers had quickly cooled down after the final whistle and Hummels apologised for the method of delivery.
Courtesy of Bremen’s loss, Dortmund now sits seventh in the table. Already one could say, since this was the objective BVB had pronounced before heading into the last three matchdays. If the club is able to preserve the current form against Wolfsburg and Bremen – and also in view of the cup final– chances are that Klopp will receive an illustrious send-off.
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