Borussia Dortmund 4-0 FC Rielasingen-Arlen

Reigning champions Borussia Dortmund saw off sixth-tier side Rielasingen 4-0 in the first round of the DFL Pokal Cup in Freiberg. A goal from Marc Bartra and a hat-trick from Aubameyang were enough for Dortmund to thrash the minnows.

Peter Bosz went into the match without many star players like Reus and Gotze, while Dembele was missing having been suspended by the club. He had missed training and while speculation was rife that he was refusing training and forcing a move to Barcelona, Bosz refuted the rumours by saying that he was on holiday with his friends in Paris. However, the club suspended him from all first-team activity for failing to take permission to skip the training and not contacting anybody as well.

The top tier side took the lead through an unlikely player in Marc Bartra. The defender met Jan-Niklas Beste’s cross to fire the shot under Dennis Klose with 12 minutes played in the match. And the match didn’t look to be as one-sided as predicted, as Dortmund had to labour to find the second goal in the 41st minute. The home side started looking dangerous on the counter, but Aubameyang’s penalty shored up things for the reigning champions. Maximilian Philipp rounded the keeper but then went down by Klose’s challenge, and Aubameyang then coolly slotted the penalty to double his side’s lead going into the break.

Andre Schurrle volleyed into the net just after the break but the goal was correctly ruled offside. Aubameyang then headed into the bottom right corner but his shot was well saved by Klose. And while the home side threatened on the break, they couldn’t really finish well and forced routine saves from Burki. However, Aubameyang’s second put the result beyond doubt. In the 55th minute, he sprinted through on goal after picking the ball on the halfway to finish with a left footed lob over the keeper to make the score 3-0.

However, Aubameyang’s second put the result beyond doubt. In the 55th minute, he sprinted through on goal after picking the ball on the halfway to finish with a left footed lob over the keeper to make the score 3-0. Philipp and Stark then hit wasteful shots which went wide, before Sahin’s stunning long-range strike clipped the outside of the post. However, Aubameyang still hadn’t finished yet as he completed his hat-trick ten minutes from time to guide his side into the second round. In the process, he surpassed Stephane Chapuisat as BVB’s best ever foreign goal scorer with 124 goals.

While the visitors did not miss Dembele’s speed and trickery, they did get a major boost as Kagawa made a return to match fitness. Having been out with a shoulder injury, Kagawa came on in the second half for an underwhelming Andre Schurrle. Also, Bosz would be fairly relieved having seen his side return to Dortmund without any new injury concerns. The win has boosted their morale and they’ll now be raring to go up against Wolfsburg next week as they try to begin another league title challenge with a win.