Dortmund swept Schalke 4-0 on Saturday, in an ordinarily passionate Ruhr derby which has lost a lot of its magic, both behind closed doors and because both sides are losing momentum, with Schalke already having a foot in the second division.
In the huge, desperately empty Schalke stadium, Borussia corrected their intimate enemy (the two stadiums are around thirty kilometers apart), with a new double from the prodigious Erling Haaland (45th, 79th) and two goals from Jadon Sancho (42nd) and Raphaël Guerreiro (60th), in this match of the 22nd day.
Haaland’s first goal will enter the “best of” of the season: served by a cross from Sancho from the left, the Norwegian managed an extraordinary and acrobatic “Kung Fu” volley to place the ball flush with the post , out of reach of the guardian.
Three days after its good performance in the Champions League (3-2 victory in Seville), Dortmund has given itself new cause for hope. These three points allow him to stay in sixth position (the place which offers a ticket for the Europa League play-offs), six points however from fourth position, the stated objective of the leaders.
Sportingly inconsistent since the start of the season, financially weakened by the Covid-19 crisis, Dortmund absolutely wants to enter the top-4 to participate in the lucrative Champions League next year.
If he did not succeed, it would be “a step backwards, or even two” in the development of the club, warned BVB boss Hans-Joachim Watzke. With the risk of having to sell one or even the two best players in the club, the 20-year-old geniuses Erling Haaland and Jadon Sancho.
Schalke, for his part, sees his chances of sustaining fade with each new defeat. After 22 days, the club has only 9 points, nine behind the barrage Bielefeld.
Liverpool relapse, Chelsea skates
Beaten for the fourth time in a row at Anfield, in the derby against Everton (2-0), Liverpool missed the opportunity to get closer to the Top 4 and Chelsea, held in check at Southampton (1-1), on Saturday for the 25th day of the Premier League.
Anfield, cursed grass
Since Burnley came to end 68 unbeaten league games at Anfield Road, the Reds have continued to disappoint and it was neighbor Everton who took the opportunity to win for the first time in 22 years.
This allows the Toffees to join Liverpool (6th) by number of points (40), with one game less, even if the outgoing champion remains ahead on goal difference.
After the start against Leipzig on Tuesday in the knockout stages of the Champions League (2-0), Liverpool fell back into its pitfalls with an attack too often predictable.
Some tactical choices seemed very questionable, with Jürgen Klopp’s men struggling to play long in the first half when the wind was blowing hard.
Liverpool also had the misfortune of stumbling upon an inspired Jordan Pickford in the Everton cages.
The English international goalkeeper, who seriously injured Virgil van Dijk in the first leg (2-2), relaxed beautifully to his right to deflect a recovery from Jordan Henderson (20th). He came out well in the feet of Mohamed Salah, twenty minutes from time, to protect the advantage of his team.
Despite the absence of star striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Everton have found the loophole on two occasions.
The first time on a superb opening by James Rodriguez which allowed Richarlison to place an unstoppable cross strike from the 3rd minute (1-0) and the second on a penalty converted by Gylfi Sigurdsson (2-0, 83rd).
The exit on injury of Jordan Henderson at the half hour of play, for an apparently muscular injury, adds to the misfortunes of the Reds, to whom nothing is spared this season in this regard.
Chelsea ralenti
After four consecutive wins in the league, Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea experienced a small hitch in their climb to the podium with this draw at Southampton who remained on six consecutive defeats.
With 43 points, the Blues remain 4th and virtually qualified for the Champions League, but under the direct threat of West Ham (5th, 42 pts) who receives Tottenham on Sunday, while Everton, with a late match, is not at three points.
Three days before their round of 16 first leg of the Champions League on Tuesday in Bucharest (Romania) against Atlético Madrid, the Londoners seemed almost distracted and did not go far from an embarrassing defeat.
Tuchel, often angry on the bench, did not appreciate the imprecision, clumsiness or a certain nonchalance of his people in the last 20 meters.
He did not, for example, hesitate to leave Callum Hudson-Odoï at a quarter of an hour from the end when he had replaced at the break Tammy Abraham, himself left because he had not given satisfaction.
Without his “boss” Thiago Silva, Chelsea’s defense seemed more vulnerable, even though Southampton had created few chances.
The Liverpool defector Takumi Minamino took advantage of a beautiful opening from Nathan Redmond in a gaping breach in the axis, between Kurt Zouma and Cesar Azpilicueta, to open the scoring (1-0, 33rd) and score his second goal in three matches.
Southampton could even have scored a second goal when a reflex header from Jannik Vestergaard found the crossbar of Edouard Mendy nailed to his support (70th).
Chelsea owe a penalty from Mason Mount, victim and then executioner after a tackle “attacker” from Danny Ings in the box (1-1, 54th), not to cash the first defeat of the Tuchel era.
But Tuesday in C1 it will be necessary to show more in a competition which is one of the major objectives of the end of the season for the Blues.
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