Borussia Dortmund secured their second successive Bundesliga title, and fifth overall, after comfortably beating their namesake Mönchengladbach 2-0 at home on Saturday evening.
Goals in each half from Ivan Perisic and Shinji Kagawa set the hosts on their way to victory in a match they controlled from start to finish, rounded off by the return of midfield starlet Mario Götze after four months out with injury.
The game began at a furious pace, with each side pressing the other high up the pitch so as not to let them build up any momentum. The tactics were very successful, with misplaced and inaccurate passes commonplace in the opening stages. However, inevitably the tempo subsided and the hosts started to exert more attacking influence over the game, breaking forward with precision and aggression. Robert Lewandowski came closest with a fierce drive from the edge of the box that skidded just wide.
They very nearly scored from their next chance too, as Kagawa's scuffed shot trickled onto the post, allowing Lewandowski to collect the ball from the by-line, cut inside and smash a close-range shot goalwards, only to be foiled by an acrobatic block by Marc-Andre ter Stegen. Yet for all their intricate build up play, when Dortmund did go in front it was from a set-piece. Marcel Schmelzer's in-swinging free kick from the left was met by Perisic eight yards out and the Croatian nodded in to deservedly put the hosts ahead.
There was not a lot to see from Gladbach going forward and on the rare occasions they succeeded in making it beyond the Dortmund midfield, the guests were caught out by a well-practiced offside trap. Ter Stegen kept Gladbach in the tie with a superb reaction save from Mats Hummels' close range flick after Schmelzer had lofted a pass over the defence following a corner. That proved to be the last of the goalmouth action, as Dortmund eased their way to a half time lead.
The match proceeded in much the same vein after the break, with the hosts dominating possession and making their visitors chase after the ball. However, after a swift counter-attack, Gladbach very nearly equalised when Marco Reus sublimely plucked the ball out of the air and flicked it over Schmelzer in the same motion, before rounding Roman Weidenfeller. Sadly for the Foals, Reus' touch was slightly too heavy and Schmelzer had got back in time to block on the line.
The game may have taken a different course had Reus scored, but in the ensuing attack, it was Dortmund who found the net. Lewandowski fed Kagawa in the box and the Japan international's touch took him beyond ter Stegen, allowing him to slot the ball into the empty net (59'). The Yellow-Blacks almost made it three with a carbon copy of their first goal, but this time ter Stegen blocked Lewandowski's header with another excellent save.
Götze, who had not played since mid-December, appeared for the final quarter of an hour to rapturous applause from the home crowd and immediately looked at home in the centre of the pitch. Dortmund were untroubled as they comfortably wound down the match, and the final whistle sparked roaring celebrations after a successful defence of their Bundesliga crown.
Dortmund: Weidenfeller - Piszczek, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer - Gündogan (Leitner 73'), Kehl - Blaszczykowski (Bender 88'), Kagawa (Götze 73'), Perisic - Lewandowski
Gladbach: ter Stegen - Stranzl, Brouwers, Danet, Daems - Jantschke, Nordveit - Herrmann (Ring 64'), Arango (Wendt 69'), Hanke - Reus
Goals: 1-0 (Perisic 23'), 2-0 (Kagawa 59')
Source: Bundesliga
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