Borussia Dortmund Rout VfL Wolfsburg but Have Goalkeeper Roman Burki to Thank

Once Borussia Dortmund were up by two goals after only 17 minutes against VfL Wolfsburg on Bundesliga Matchday 4 on Tuesday evening, most will have expected a similarly spectacular result as the 6-0 victories over Legia Warsaw and SV Darmstadt.

Going only by the box score, that’s exactly what happened. The Black and Yellows beat the Wolves, who hadn’t conceded a single goal on the first three matchdays of the campaign, 5-1 at the Volkswagen Arena.

However, it’s not a stretch to claim the result could easily have gone the other way, or that the hosts deserved at least a point for their efforts.

Thomas Tuchel’s remarks in his post-match press conference were no humblebrag: “For a long time it did not feel like such a clear result for us. We scored five goals and took an early lead but then we suffered for quite a spell in the first half and in the opening stages of the second period, because we gave away a lot of good-quality chances.”

Indeed, one look at the game’s statistics is enough to understand how tight an affair it was despite the impressive final result for the visitors. Per German sport magazine Kicker, the two sides split possession 50-50, but the Wolves had a higher pass-completion rate, won more duels and took five more shots than Dortmund.

The expected-goals graphics below show how easily Wolfsburg could have got a result out of the match:

Easy to run away with the final score here, but this was more an affair of one side finishing their chances & the other not.#xGplot #BVB pic.twitter.com/madq8C1aqj

— 11tegen11 (@11tegen11) September 20, 2016

Dortmund got lucky that opposing attackers such as Bruno Henrique and Germany international Mario Gomez wasted a boatload of chances with some almost comical misses from close range, but the Ruhr side mostly had to thank goalkeeper Roman Burki for their win.

It may sound surreal after a 5-1 win, but the Switzerland international had to keep his team in the game for a long stretch before and immediately after half-time. It was arguably the 25-year-old’s most impressive shot-stopping performance in a Dortmund shirt, as he looked insuperable in many situations.

Henrique should have equalised four minutes after Raphael Guerreiro opened the scoring, but Burki stood his ground and offered the Brazilian no angle to find the net. The same tactic saw him prevail against Gomez later in the half, as the 31-year-old hit him from point-blank range.

Flying saves against a free-kick from Ricardo Rodriguez and a strong hit from distance from Maximilian Arnold topped off a magnificent first half for Burki.

Chances kept coming for the hosts early in the second period, none bigger than a double opportunity for birthday boy Julian Draxler and Gomez in the 50th minute. Burki not only dealt with the 23-year-old’s …

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