Dortmund beat Freiburg 4-0 to secure top four spot; Stuttgart held
Borussia Dortmund's Fabio Silva celebrates scoring his side's fourth goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and SC Freiburg at Signal Iduna Park. Bernd Thissen/dpa Borussia Dortmund rebounded from two Bundesliga defeats with an emphatic 4-0 victory over Freiburg for a double anniversary on Sunday which assured them of a top four finish. Dortmund claimed a 600th top flight home win in their 1,000th home game from first half goals by Maximilian Beier, Serhou Guirassy and Ramy Bensebaini and a late strike from Fabio Silva.
Dortmund in second moved 10 points clear of fifth placed Hoffenheim with three games left and are thus assured of returning to the Champions League. Top four clinched They can finish third at worst as VfB Stuttgart in fourth are tied on points with Hoffenheim after being held 1-1 by lowly Werder Bremen. Hoffenheim host Stuttgart next weekend in a crucial match and Bayer Leverkusen are also in the frame two points behind the duo.
Bayern Munich have clinched the title and Dortmund are five points ahead of third ranked RB Leipzig after rebounding from defeats against Leverkusen and Hoffenheim. "We didn't have two defeats in a row before and wanted to make up for it which we did. There is not too much pressure but it is our ambition to finish second," Dortmund midfielder Marcel Sabitzer told streaming portal DAZN.
Dortmund in control Teenager Samuele Inacio made his starting 11 debut for Dortmund and Beier opened the scoring in the eighth minute into the far corner off a long pass from Bensebaini. Guirassy tapped in Julian Brandt's cross on the counter for 2-0 in the 14th. The third came in the 31st, with Bensebaini heading home Julian Ryerson's corner kick.
Silva fired in emphatically in the 87th to complete a classy attacking move. Freiburg had a goal from Lukas Kรผbler 10 minutes after the restart chalked off after an offside check and remain eighth in their fight with seventh placed Eintracht Frankfurt for the last available place in Europe. Stuttgart drop points The visitors lacked energy coming off a 2-1 extra time defeat at Stuttgart in a German Cup semi-final on Thursday, and Stuttgart also appeared to feel the after-effects of those 120 minutes against Bremen.