A roundup of all of Saturday’s (wild) action in the Bundesliga, Germany’s (highly entertaining and enthralling) top flight…
[ PL ROUNDUP: Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool drop points; Manchester rejoices ]
Borussia Dortmund 4-0 Schalke (HT)
Peter Bosz’s side blew the doors of their Revierderby rivals, to the tune of 4-0 well before halftime. It could have easily been 5-0 or 6-0 at the intermission, in all honesty.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring after just eight minutes, followed four minutes later by an own goal from Benjamin Stambouli. Two minutes after that, Mario Gotze made it 3-0 after just 20 minutes. Game over, right? Right?!
Aubameyang ➡️ Pulisic ➡️ Sahin ➡️ Aubameyang
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 25, 2017
Perfect start for Dortmund in the #Revierderby! https://t.co/ZH0cINmoS2
Aubameyang is deadly on the break, even if he's not the one scoring.
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 25, 2017
What a ball to Götze for Dortmund's third! https://t.co/1plq8CEkaH
For good measure, Raphael Guerreiro added a fourth goal in the 25th minute to complete one of the most dominant, lopsided routs of a derby in recent memory.
Dortmund are tearing Schalke apart. Guerreiro's volley made it 4-0 after just 25 minutes! https://t.co/LEcyZbWQU5
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 25, 2017
The second half would be a mere formality, with Dortmund needing only to remain with 11 men on the field — heck, even 10 should do the job — to see out the victory, unbeknownst to them at the time, move them three points closer to the league leaders, Bayern Munich.
Borussia Dortmund 4-4 Schalke (FT)
Well, that really escalated quickly, didn’t it? How, exactly, did we get here?
For the first 15 minutes of the second half, it all appeared to be going to plan for Dortmund. Sure, Schalke were in total control of possession, but again, it was all part of the plan for Dortmund.
Then came Guido Burgstaller’s goal to make it 4-1, followed by Amine Harit four minutes later and it was 4-2. Another 20 minutes would pass, during which period it was widely speculated that Bosz could very well find himself under further fire for failing to see the game out properly. Aubameyang made matters so much worse in the 72nd minute, having only just returned from a club-imposed suspension, by picking up his second yellow card on the day and making the long, lonely walk off the field and down the tunnel.
When Daniel Caligiuri scored Schalke’s third in the 86th minute, speculation became a firmly held belief.
25' Dortmund 4-0 Schalke
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 25, 2017
86' Dortmund 4-3 Schalke
What a game! https://t.co/hnChfcLB4X
Naldo’s 93rd-minute header presumably all but sealed Bosz’s fate, that he could very well be fired after fewer than six months on the job.
What drama! Naldo completes Schalke's miraculous comeback in stoppage time.
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 25, 2017
Dortmund blew a 4-0 lead. 😱 https://t.co/j2ArKWlat0
Borussia Monchengladbach 2-1 Bayern Munich
Bayern fell 2-0 behind to Gladbach before halftime, and Jupp Heynckes’ couldn’t claw their way back to rescue a point, even if for an incredibly lopsided set of full-time stats.
xG map for Gladbach - Bayern. Rarely has shot count (Bayern 25-7) more completely failed to tell the story of a match. pic.twitter.com/8tkWYM5FK3
— Caley Graphics (@Caley_graphics) November 25, 2017
Thorgan Hazard converted from the penalty spot to put Gladbach ahead in the 39th minute, followed five minutes later by the second courtesy of Matthias Ginter. For another half-hour, the score remained 2-0, until Arturo Vidal pulled one back for Bayern in the 74th minute. Despite their best efforts — 16 second-half shots — a Bayern equalizer was never to be found.
RB Leipzig 2-0 Werder Bremen
One side did capitalize on Bayern’s slip-up and gain three points on the six-time defending champions, moving to within three in the league table: second-place RB Leipzig, with a 2-0 victory over Werder Bremen.
Future Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita opened the scoring in the 34th minute. The 1-0 scoreline held for nearly 45 minutes before Bernardo bagged a late insurance goal in the 87th minute to secure all three points and inch closer in the title race.
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga
Freiburg 2-1 Mainz
Eintracht Frankfurt 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen
Augsburg 2-1 Wolfsburg
Sunday’s Bundesliga schedule
Hamburg vs. Hoffenheim — 9:30 a.m. ET
Cologne vs. Hertha Berlin — 12 p.m. ET