Sebastien Haller scored for the first time since returning from cancer treatment as Borussia Dortmund thrashed Freiburg 10 5-1 in the Bundesliga.
The Ruhr Valley club were in superb form as they have won four out of four league games since the restart and moved up to 37 points.
Freiburg, who fell to sixth with 34 points, slipped off the start with Kiliann Sildillia cautioned twice within three minutes to reduce his side to 10 men in the 17th minute.
It didn’t take long for Dortmund to make their advantage count and former Freiburg defender Nico Schlotterbeck took the lead from the tightest angles in the 26th minute.
Dortmund had Freiburg firmly on the back foot but the visitors struck against the run of play with Lucas Hoeler drilling in a loose ball after the hosts failed to clear it towards the end of the first half.
Order was quickly restored after the restart, however, as Dortmund scored twice in the space of three minutes.
Jude Bellingham set up Karim Adeyemi with a backheel kick and the Germany international slid the ball past goalkeeper Mark Flekken in the 48th to put them back in front.
It was then time for Haller, who had returned just weeks ago from months of surgery and chemotherapy to treat testicular cancer diagnosed shortly after joining the club last July, to put his struggles behind him and get back to business. to score.
The Ivory Coast striker nodded after 51 minutes for his first competitive goal.
“That goal came way too late,” said Terzic. “We would have liked him to score his first goal in July and August when we signed him, but you all know the story since then.”
“So the goal came today, in front of the yellow wall (of Dortmund supporters). It means so much to him and so much to us. We hope it was the first of many, many goals.”
Long-range effort from Julian Brandt which came off the post in the 69th minute, and Gio Reyna completed Freiburg’s demolition after Freiburg coach Christian Streich was also sent off for dissent.
Messi guides PSG to defeat Toulouse
Lionel Messi’s second-half goal helped a lackluster Paris Saint-Germain beat Toulouse 2-1 to move eight points clear at the top of Ligue 1.
The superstar struck with a typical curling strike in the 57th minute after a move with Moroccan right-back Achraf Hakimi, who leveled PSG at the end of the first half after free-kick specialist Branco van den Boomen gave the advantage to Toulouse in the 20th.
PSG were without injured strikers Kylian Mbappe and Neymar and relied heavily on Messi, who hit the post during stoppage time.
Mbappe is out for at least three weeks after suffering a torn left thigh. Neymar is undergoing treatment for a painful adductor and has missed his second game in a row. PSG injuries increased when Portuguese midfielder Renato Sanches was injured in the 13th minute with a thigh injury.
PSG had lost two and drawn in their previous five matches, and fell behind in the 20th minute when Van den Boomen’s free kick from the right flew past blocked keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma into the left corner.
After Marquinhos hit the post with a header from Messi’s corner, PSG equalized with a fine 25-yard strike from Hakimi in the 38th minute.
Messi hit the winner after the break with his third goal in his last five league games to put PSG on 54 points from 22 games.
Roma bounce back to beat Empoli
Two nearly identical goals in the first six minutes put Roma on the way to a comfortable 2-0 win over Empoli in Serie A.
Jose Mourinho’s side were looking to bounce back from a humiliating cup exit against Cremonese in midweek.
And the start was perfect when Roger Ibaez headed in a corner from Paolo Dybala in less than two minutes.
Roma doubled their lead four minutes later when Dybala floated in another corner from the left for Tammy Abraham to head home.
Things almost got worse for Empoli immediately after the break, but goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario netted a fantastic triple save.
He parried Dybala’s volley first, then got up quickly to prevent a follow-up from Gianluca Mancinis. With Vicario still on the ground, Abraham looked certain to head for the rebound from close range, but the goalkeeper lifted his leg to stop him incredibly too.
Cremonese’s future in Serie A has grown increasingly bleak after they failed to follow up their league heroics. They lost at home to Lecce 2-0 to leave them lowest in Serie A, 10 points from safety.
Cremonese are winless in Serie A this season but beat Napoli and Roma to reach the Coppa Italia semi-finals for the first time in 36 years and only the second time in their history.
However, their league woes were compounded when Lecce scored twice in the second half. Federico Baschirotto headed in Morten Hjulmands’ cross and Gabriel Strefezza curled in a delightful effort into the top left corner.
Atlético held by Getafe
Atletico Madrid dominated but were held 1-1 by La Liga second-placed Getafe, who equalized late in the second half through an Enes Unal penalty.
Atletico missed several chances to take an early lead, finally scoring in the 60th minute when Angel Correa volleyed into the net after a rebound.
But Getafe secured a valuable away point in the 83rd minute after the referee spotted a Saul Niguez handball inside the box. Unal stepped in and blasted the resulting penalty.
Atletico are fourth in the La Liga table on 35 points, four behind third-placed Real Sociedad and 15 behind leaders Barcelona. In the relegation zone, Getafe are 19th with 18 points.
Matt Doherty was an unused Atletico substitute the week he completed his transfer from Tottenham.
