Dortmund crush lowly Stuttgart to stay top
STUTTGART, Germany, Oct 20, (Agencies): Borussia Dortmund struck three times in the opening 25 minutes to beat hosts VfB Stuttgart 4-0 away on Saturday and protect their four-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga.
Jadon Sancho put them ahead with a deflected effort in the third minute before Marco Reus launched their attack for the second goal and finished it off with a fine shot in the 23rd.
Spaniard Paco Alcacer continued his spectacular scoring run two minutes later to notch his seventh league goal this season and become the first Bundesliga player to require just 106 minutes of playing time to do so.
Stuttgart, in 17th place, attempted to force their way back into the game early in the second half but quickly ran out of ideas before Dortmund took control again.
Maximilian Philipp completed the rout in the 85th minute to become Dortmund’s 14th scorer in eight league games this season. The Ruhr valley club has also scored 27 goals so far, a club record after eight games.
Dortmund, who earned their fourth straight league win, are on 20 points, four ahead of champions Bayern Munich, who are in second place.
In Wolfburg, Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski scored once in each half and set up a third goal to steer the German champions to a 3-1 victory over VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday and give them their first win in five games in all competitions.
The Poland striker opened his account on the half hour and doubled it four minutes after the re-start to give embattled Bayern a muchneeded boost, a day after club bosses launched a scathing attack on the media while backing coach Niko Kovac and his players despite their dip in form.
The game looked to be turning for the hosts in the 57th minute when Bayern winger Arjen Robben was sent off after a second booking. It was the Dutchman’s first dismissal in more than seven years.
The Wolves then cut the deficit through Wout Weghorst six minutes later and launched an all-out offensive in search of the equaliser before James Rodriguez stunned the home crowed with a curling shot following a Lewandowski pass.
Bayern, whose president Uli Hoeness and CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge on Friday accused the media of unfair and “shameful” reporting of their team’s current form, are now in second place on 16 points, four behind leaders Borussia Dortmund.
In Berlin, Luka Jovic has been hailed as a “potential world-class striker” after the 20-year-old’s five goals in Eintracht Frankfurt’s 7-1 drubbing of Fortuna Dusseldorf.
The Serbian striker needed just 55 minutes to score his Friday night haul, becoming the youngest player in Bundesliga history to achieve the feat.
The Serbia international is also the first Frankfurt player to score five in one league match since Eintracht was founded in 1899.
“You always have to be careful with superlatives, but for me, he has the potential to become a world-class striker,” enthused Frankfurt coach Adi Huetter.
Having also scored in each of his two previous league games, Jovic now has seven goals to make him the top scorer in the Bundesliga so far this season.
His stunning haul put him in the same company as Robert Lewandowski, Jurgen Klinsmann and Gerd Mueller, who all scored five in a single German league game.
He was taken off on 86 minutes, but Jovic later admitted he was unaware he had been just one short of matching Dieter Mueller’s record of six goals in a single German league game.
“It was not a priority for me, the only thing that counted for me was the team’s victory,” said Jovic, who also scored five in a youth team game as a 12-year-old.
“I have always shot from anywhere on goal, it just paid off today,” he added.
Jovic, on loan from Benfica, only got his chance after Frankfurt’s firstchoice striker Ante Rebic was injured at the start of the season.
Now Frankfurt are considering signing him permanently.
Television pundit Matthias Sammer rates Jovic as worth more than the 10 million euros ($11.5 million) asking price.
“He has a good movement, anticipation and technique, he is the complete player,” ex-Germany midfielder Sammer told Eurosport.
Jovic thanked both Huetter “for the space he gives me” and also the Austrian’s predecessor Niko Kovac, who left at the end of last season to take charge of Bayern Munich.