Borussia Dortmund Maintain Perfect Bundesliga Start with 3-0 Win
Borussia Dortmund kept their perfect Bundesliga start intact on Saturday, brushing aside newly promoted SC Paderborn 07 with a controlled, 3-0 home win that never really felt in doubt.
Niko Kovac’s team now have three wins from three. This one was as routine as the scoreline suggests, but it also carried a few storylines of its own.
Silva strikes early, Veerman settles in
The tone was set almost immediately. Five minutes in, Fábio Silva burst through the Paderborn back line, rounded goalkeeper Nahuel Noll with composure and slid in the opener for 1-0. One touch to go past the keeper, one touch to finish. Clinical. Dortmund were in front before the visitors had found their bearings.
Joey Veerman, handed his first Bundesliga start after appearances in the DFB-Pokal against HEBC Hamburg and in the Champions League against Villarreal, slotted straight into the rhythm. The Dutch midfielder tested Noll himself, driving a shot that forced the keeper into action as Dortmund hunted an early second.
Jobe Bellingham went close, dragging an effort just wide, the kind of chance that usually sucks the air out of a stadium for a second before the groans. At the other end, Paderborn finally showed a flicker. Laurin Curda hammered a shot into the side-netting, a reminder that Dortmund’s slender lead could still be fragile if they switched off.
Guirassy denied twice before the break
As the half wore on, Dortmund tightened their grip. Serhou Guirassy thought he had killed the contest on his own before the interval.
First came a delicate dink, lifted over Noll with the confidence of a striker in form. Ruled out. Offside.
Soon after, Guirassy rose to head in what looked like Dortmund’s second. Again, the celebrations were cut short. Again, the flag. Two finishes, no reward. Paderborn escaped to half-time still only a goal down, clinging to the idea that they were somehow still in the game.
Dortmund stay in control
Any hope of a Paderborn surge after the restart never really materialised. Dortmund kept the ball, kept the tempo, and kept creating.
Ethan Nwaneri had a sight of goal. Bellingham and Guirassy also passed up chances to stretch the lead, the kind that usually bury newly promoted sides. Paderborn, though, offered almost nothing going forward. Their rare forays were quickly shut down, their attacks swallowed by a Dortmund side that looked comfortable in every phase.
The pressure had to tell. Eventually, it did.
Nmecha steps off the bench and finishes the job
Enter Felix Nmecha.
Brought on to inject fresh legs and a bit of edge in the final third, the substitute delivered exactly that. Ten minutes from time, he produced the move of the match: a sharp step-over to wrong-foot his marker, then a precise finish bent into the far corner for 2-0. The result, in truth, was sealed right there.
Marcel Sabitzer almost added a flourish of his own, rattling the crossbar with a powerful effort moments later. Paderborn were hanging on, the game now about damage limitation.
Nmecha had other ideas.
As the ball dropped in the box late on, he improvised brilliantly, launching into a spectacular overhead kick to make it 3-0 and cap a dominant display. One substitute, two goals, and a highlight-reel strike to close the afternoon.
Dortmund walk away with another clean sheet, another three points, and the feeling that this early-season rhythm under Kovac is building into something more serious.
