Hertha Berlin 0-3 BVB (Bundesliga Match #30)

Dortmund bounced back from two disappointing home matches with a trip to Berlin’s Olympiastadion and came away having beaten strugglers Hertha BSC 3-0 thanks to a Mario Götze free-kick and a brace from Felipe Santana to maintain the best away record in the Bundesliga.

After a draw with Freiburg last weekend, BVB made four changes from the side: Mats Hummels came back after a week rest to captain the side and partner Santana, Julian Schieber returned to the bench as Robert Lewandowski and Stevan Jovetic both started up-front, and Lars Bender replaced his suspended brother Sven.

It was Bender who won a free-kick thirty yards out, slightly to the right of goal when he was bundled over, and up-stepped Mario Götze to crash the ball off the bar, which bounced down on the line, hit the far post and came back out. No replay angle was found to confirm that the ball crossed the line, but it was good enough for the officials who gave the goal.

Ten minutes later, referee Jochen Drees was involve in another controversial moment when he awarded BVB a free-kick inches outside the box and cautioned Ermin Bicakcic when not only was Robert Lewandowski about to pull the trigger, he was clearly inside the box when felled.

He awarded BVB another free-kick shortly after which was deflected behind off the wall, and Felipe Santana met Götze’s delivery ahead of anyone else and doubled the lead seven minutes before the break.

Dortmund kept a perfect shut-out in the second-half, denying Hertha a single effort at goal, and after a trio of corners in the final minute, put the match beyond the hosts when Felipe Santana scored his third goal in two games to make it three-nil.

In stoppage time, Alper Uludag celebrated poking the ball past Roman Weidenfeller, but the flag was up on the far-side as the assistant referee thought it about time to make a correct decision this afternoon.

Welcome to the Olympiastadion where Hertha Berlin host Borussia Dortmund. It’s the league leaders first visit here since their DFB-Pokal win over Frankfurt last May, but they’ve not faced today’s hosts here since February 2012 when they won 1-0.

BVB won the home match 3-0 back in November, with an early opener from Julian Koch, followed by goals either side of the break from André Schürrle and Stevan Jovetic.

Hertha need a win to escape the bottom three, but a draw won’t be a terrible result given that Werder Bremen and Stuttgart play each other today. Three other matches kick-off at the same time and we’ll have the goals from each of them.

Robert Lewandowski makes his 250th Bundesliga appearance today.

[00] Today’s referee is Jochen Drees, and gets us under way on a glorious afternoon!

[02] Robert Lewandowski gets past his man but doesn’t make a clean connection and Thomas Kraft has a simple save.

[03] Mario Götze comes inside from the right and wins a corner off Ronny. One corner becomes two as Hummels has his header deflected behind.

[04] Goalline clearance! Felipe Santana meets Götze’s header at the near post, looping it past Kraft but Alper Uludag hacks it off the line before Peter Niemeyer puts it out for a third corner.

[05] Götze’s delivery isn’t good, but the ball is only cleared as far as André Schürrle. The Dortmund player overhits a ball back into the box and Hertha escape.

[06] Mamadou Bah tries a half-volley from 25 yards but troubles no one except a bloke sat in row N.

[07] Vedad Ibisevic, whose brace won it at Hannover last weekend, has put Stuttgart in front at fellow strugglers Werder Bremen.

[07] Yellow card for Sami Allagui after he hauls down Lars Bender.

[09] Julian Draxler has put Schalke in front at home to Nürnberg, while Vedad Ibisevic has scored a second for Stuttgart in Bremen.

[10] Stevan Jovetic gets to the goal line on the left of goal and pulls it right back across the six-yard box, but neither Lewandowski nor Götze can get on the end of it.

[11] Schürrle bends an effort wide from 20 yards.

[13] Robert Firmino has put Hoffenheim in front at Augsburg.

[13] Yellow card for Mahmadou Bah after he bundles Jos Verniers over in midfield.

[16] Schürrle’s deep cross is headed back by Lewandowski towards Bender who slams an effort towards goal only to smack Jovetic clean on the backside. That will sting!

[18] Bah is miles off target from 25 yards, and is fortunate it doesn’t go for a throw.

[20] Schürrle has had another couple of efforts, getting closer with shots from just outside the box.

[22] Felipe Santana clears from inside his own six-yard box after Anis Ben-Hatira crosses low after beating Marcel Schmelzer down Hertha’s right.

[26] HERTHA BERLIN 0-1 DORTMUND: Lars Bender wins a free-kick 30 yards out after Patricio Troncoso’s push, and Mario Götze steps up and bends it round the four-man wall off the crossbar, down over the line, before bouncing back off the post and coming out but the officials have given it!

[26] Replays inconclusive that the whole of the ball crossed the whole of the line. Assistant referee didn’t look well-placed.

[29] All Dortmund since the goal, and Jovetic tests Kraft with a low rive that lookd like it was creeping in at the near post.

[32] Jovetic and Niemeyer have clashed in Dortmund’s half and the Hertha man looks like he’s come off second-best. The ball’s played out for him to get treatment on the sidelines.

[37] Penalty shout! Caution for Ermin Bicakcic, Hertha’s third, after he brings down Lewandowski. It looked inside the area, and it looked like the Dortmund man was clean through. Replays show it was definitely inside the box.

[38] Götze will take the free-kick half a yard outside the area. He blasts it high and wide by a yard.

[38] Hertha concede a free-kick on the right, ten yards from the corner flag. It’s floated in for Andreas Beck who hits it on the volley only for Kraft to make a tremendous save and push it wide.

[38] HERTHA BERLIN 0-2 DORTMUND: The defending champions double their lead ahead of the chasing pack playing when Felipe Santana heads home his second goal in two games from a corner. He rises highest at Götze’s corner to nod past the man on the line.

[39] Adam Hlousek has equalised for Nürnberg at Schalke, while Gregoritsch has put Hoffenheim two-up at Augsburg.

[40] Martin Harnik has put Stuttgart 3-0 up at Werder Bremen.

[45] Two additional minutes.

HALF-TIME: Heartha Berlin 0-2 Borussia Dortmund (Bundesliga).

[HT] Dortmund look comfortable at the break, without creatin as many chances as you would think possible against this porous-looking home defence. While you’d expect the hosts to burst out the blocks, an early Dortmund blitz could kill this right off.

[HT] Scores at the break elsewhere: Augsburg 0-2 Hoffenheim, Frankfurt 0-0 Mönchengladbach, Schalke 1-1 Nürnberg, Werder Bremen 0-3 Stuttgart.

[HT] Double change for Hertha at the break as they replace both central midfielders. On come Fanol Perdedaj and Fabian Listenberger for Niemeyer (6.5) and Troncoso (6.6).

[46] Hertha Berlin kick-off the second-half!

[46] The hosts concede possession immediately, and Götze whips a ball forwards to Schürrle who’s denied a shot on goal by Pekarik’s challenge. Corner for Dortmund.

[46] Pekarik hammers away Götze’s delivery.

[46] Gregoritsch has put Hoffenheim 3-0 up at Augsburg within seconds of the restart. They’ll climb to 10th tonight.

[48] Schürrle whistles a shot over the bar when he cuts inside.

[49] Teemu Pukki has put Schalke 2-1 up at home to Nürnberg.

[50] Hertha have a corner as Alper Uludag’s cross is put behind by Beck, but Weidenfeller comes to claim the delivery.

[52] There’s been a fourth goal at Schalke as the hosts go 3-1 up against Nürnberg through Machado.

[57] Dennis Praet comes on for Verniers (7.0) for Dortmund.

[62] Second change for Dortmund as Ivan Perisic replaces Jovetic (7.1).

[69] Final change for Hertha who replace Ben-Hatira (6.7) with Enzio Boldewijn.

[71] Ivan Perisic has a great sight of goal but he skims the bar from 20 yards out as a deflected pass falls right into his path.

[75] Final fifteen here and Dortmund look like they know they’ve won it. Happy to knock the ball around when they’d ordinarily get it wide and go for the throats. Three points is three points, but you feel they couild kill this off before the hosts get a chance.

[78] Disallowed! Ivan Perisic turns the ball home when he twists and flicks a Götze free-kick past Trapp, but it’s disallowed for handball against the Croatian.

[80] Fanol Perdedaj is cautioned as he leaves a foot-in on Bender in the centre circle. Certainly not his first foul today.

[81] Bender hits a dipping effort wide from the edge of the box following a good Dortmund attacking move.

[82] Marcus Baier has put Gladbach in front at Frankfurt!

[84] Bicakcic slides in on Schmelzer and is lucky to escape a second booking. Praet’s free-kick is straight into the wall, though.

[84] Viktor Fischer comes on for Schürrle (7.0) in Dortmund’s third change.

[87] Edu has pulled a goal back for Augsburg at home to Hoffenheim (1-3), as Enzio Boldewijn escapes Hertha’s fifth booking of the game with a lecture from the referee.

[88] Corner for Dortmund as Praet’s free-kick is headed behind. Bah puts that delivery behind for another… and a third…

[89] HERTHA BERLIN 0-3 DORTMUND: It’s the typical near post corner routine for Dortmund as they seal the game with ninety seconds to play when Felipe Santana nods home at the near post from Praet’s corner. Game over. Three in two for the Brazilian centre-back.

[90] Two additional minutes.

[90+1] Offside! The hosts think they’ve popped-up with a late consolation when Alper Uludag turns home at the far post from a deep Pekarik cross, but the Turk is correctly flagged.

[90+3] Looks like it’s all over here, BVB have shut-out the hosts in this second-half.

FULL-TIME: Hertha Berlin 0-3 Borussia Dortmund (Bundesliga). [PKM]

Comfortable performance from BVB today as they played with the confidence created by an early, great goal – debatable as it was. The officials had a bad day in the first half, with two massive decisions both looking incorrect, though they went evenly in favour for the two teams.

Man-of-the-match Felipe Santana has now scored three times in two games, and looks likely to keep Neven Subotic out of the staring line-up next week at home to Augsburg. BVB pull seven points clear until this evening’s Freiburg-Hamburg match, while Leverkusen and Wolfsburg both play tomorrow.

Dortmund will be back in this stadium in five weeks, in the DFB-Pokal Final.