Borussia Dortmund vs. Schalke 04: Final score 3-0, BVB completely dominant

Borussia Dortmund’s challenge for a Champions League spot in the Bundesliga appears to be very much alive after Saturday’s excellent performance against local rivals Schalke 04. Der BVB couldn’t take the lead until the 78th minute, but were dominant to an outrageous degree, and their 3-0 margin of victory hardly tells the story.

Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang forced a great save out of Schalke’s third-string goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther, and it was a sign of things to come for die Königsblauen. They were run over for the rest of the half and very lucky to get to halftime with a clean sheet. Aubameyang had a shot blocked off the line by Matija Nastasic in the 25th minute and Marco Reus nearly scored less than a minute later, with Wellenreuther making a great diving stop. Reus had a couple of more chances -- Roman Neustädter blocked his shot onto the crossbar in the 34th minute and he missed just inches wide two minutes after that.

BVB’s domination continued into the second half, with Reus continuing to be his team’s most dangerous player. Uncharacteristically, he couldn’t find the back of the net, but Aubameyang was able to break the deadlock in the 78th minute with a composed finish from 12 yards.

From there, the floodgates opened. Just a minute later, Henrik Mkhitaryan poked in a cross from Ilkay Gündogan at the end of a counter to double his team’s lead. Reus finally scored in the 85th minute, adding the exclamation point to a comfortable win by picking the ball off Wellenreuther’s feet and poking into the back of the net.

Goals: Aubameyang (78’), Mkhitaryan (79’), Reus (85’)

Goals: None.