FK Qabala vs. Borussia Dortmund: Winners and Losers from Europa League Game
Borussia Dortmund made the most out of their longest-ever trip for a game (according to the club's website), beating Azerbaijani side FK Qabala, 3-1, in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.
Thomas Tuchel, who had to do without in-form attacking midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan due to safety concerns, somewhat surprisingly chose not to rotate his squad, making only two changes from his team's win at Mainz 05 on Friday.
Roman Weidenfeller got the start between the sticks, as he did in the previous Europa League encounters. The second change saw Jonas Hofmann replace Mkhitaryan.
Dortmund were lucky not to concede in the opening quarter of an hour, as the hosts had three good opportunities to open the scoring. It took the Germans a while to get control over the match, until Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored Dortmund's first in the 31st minute.
Dortmund never looked back, as the Gabonese added his second seven minutes later. His side then controlled the match without too many problems, as Qabala seemed to give up on believing in a miracle. A third goal from Aubameyang in the 72nd minute effectively killed the game.
Brazilian Dodo scored a consolation goal in stoppage time, much to the delight of the crowd in Baku's Bakcell Arena.
Here's a look at the winners and losers from the game.
Winner: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
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There's only one place to start, really.
Gabon international Aubameyang continued his impressive season so far with a hat-trick against Qabala, winning the game almost single-handedly.
His first goal, a curler from outside the box, was a thing of beauty, the kind of goal only a player at the top of his game will score.
A clever finish was required for his second, and the 26-year-old delivered, as he so often has this year.
He completed his hat-trick with a poacher's goal in the second half.
Now with 18 goals in 17 appearances this season, Aubameyang seems to keep getting better, which has to be a frightening thought for opposing defences.
Deutsche Welle's Alex Chaffer tweeted during the game: "17 in 17 for Aubameyang. It would appear without a title race, two of the Bundesliga's best players are having a battle of their own.
"As long as he and [Robert] Lewandowski stay fit, this could be some pleasant entertainment. Two players who can score every kind of goal," he continued.
The way Aubameyang is playing at the moment, you'd back him even against Lewandowski.
Loser: Qabala's Attack
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While a scoreline of 1-3 was certainly respectable for the home side, considering they were absolute underdogs against Dortmund, their players were probably sitting in the dressing room after the game wondering what could have been.
Qabala had three golden opportunities to get in front. Dodo and skipper Sergei Zenjov missed all of them.
First, it was Zenjov, who didn't get enough power behind a header after six minutes. Just two minutes later, the 26-year-old Estonian squared the ball to Dodo in the box, but Matthias Ginter got there just in time to thwart a clean shot. Ginter made good on his own error, as he had let Brazilian get away from his grasp.
The third chance was arguably the biggest. Again, it was Ginter saving his team with a clearance from the goal line, and again it was Zenjov who failed to get the ball into the net.
Qabala did manage to score a late consolation goal, but they must have been kicking themselves at half-time. The 2-0 score in favour of the guests was definitely deceiving.
Winner: Julian Weigl
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The 20-year-old had another very impressive performance on Thursday, bossing the midfield and showing why he's become absolutely indispensable just a few months into his career at Dortmund.
The Germany under-21 international did not put a foot wrong for most of the game—quite literally, as he didn't misplace a single pass in the first half, according to Squawka.
The defensive midfielder, a bargain signing in the summer at just €2.5 million from 1860 Munich, has quickly established himself as Dortmund's midfield metronome. Thursday's game was another stellar performance in that regard.
Weigl also put in a good shift defensively, blocking two shots inside the penalty area.
Loser: Mats Hummels
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Something just isn't right with Dortmund's skipper at the moment.
Hummels has suffered a serious dip in performance over the last few weeks, both for club and country. After making waves for seemingly criticising his team-mates during the team's dry spell of four games without a win, Hummels remains in the spotlight.
His game on Thursday will have done nothing to quiet his detractors, as he was again a liability in defence.
Needlessly leaving his position time and time again, Hummels was largely at fault for Qabala's chances in the first half.
The captain's tendency to leave his position leads to him being overrun too often and takes him out of the action because of his lack of quickness. Hummels would be well advised to play his position a bit more conservatively, not trying to anticipate every pass the opponent plays in Dortmund's half.
Head coach Thomas Tuchel lamented his side's bad defending after the game, saying they lacked attention at the start of the game (via WAZ, in German).
Undoubtedly, the skipper was one of the main culprits.
Winner: Thomas Tuchel
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With the win, Dortmund are in prime position to make it to the knockout stages. With PAOK and FC Krasnodar playing each other later on Thursday, Dortmund were sure to have an advantage of at least four points over the third-placed team after Matchday 3 in the Europa League.
With two home games in the last three group matches, Dortmund have put themselves in the driver's seat to win their group and avoid the strongest opponents in December's draw.
This will be much to the delight of Dortmund head coach Thomas Tuchel, since sealing the group win early would allow him to rotate his squad without fear of jeopardising important points.
Rotation could be key in the weeks to come, as a tight schedule sees Dortmund play a lot of games in short order.
Tuchel will also be happy that his team "did the job they were required to do in a professional manner," as the Bundesliga website put it.
After the game, Tuchel told the media that he was satisfied with the win, since it's difficult to beat Qabala at home (via WAZ, in German).
