Dortmund smash Schalke on Bundesliga return

Erling Haaland was on the scoresheet as Borussia Dortmund ran rampant with an emphatic victory over fierce rivals Schalke on the resumption of the Bundesliga at an eerie Signal Iduna Park.

With the eyes of the world on football's big return amid the coronavirus pandemic, it took wonderkid Haaland just 29 minutes to pick up where he had left off when he ruthlessly opened the scoring with an elegant side-foot finish from Thorgan's Hazard cross. It was the youngster's 13th goal since joining the club in January.

Even without the enterprise of Jadon Sancho, who started the game on the bench, Dortmund's quality was too much for Schalke, who only had themselves to blame as they conceded a second on the stroke of half-time. The finger of blame will be pointed at goalkeeper Markus Schubert whose poor clearance fell at the feet of Thomas Delaney, who found Julian Brandt and his beautifully-weighted pass saw Raphael Guerriero put Dortmund firmly in control.

The hosts put the game beyond the reach of their rivals just three minutes after the restart when Hazard - who was a late addition to the line-up following the injury to 17-year-old Giovanni Reyna in the warm-up - was released by Brandt and beat the hapless Schubert at his near post.

In what was one of the most one-sided Revierderby meetings in recent years, the rout was completed in spectacular fashion in the 63rd minute by the outside of Gueirrero's boot after he broke the offside trap to latch onto Haaland's clever pass, as the title challengers moved to within a point of Bayern Munich, who play Union Berlin on Sunday. Schalke, meanwhile, drop to eighth.

Football is back and it was beautiful. With 61 days since play was suspended in the Bundesliga, millions of people worldwide were expected to have tuned into the 'Revierderby' for the 'official' return of football. This was always going to go down as one of the biggest games in German football history and thanks to the swashbuckling class of Dortmund, it served as a perfect afternoon of escapism for football enthusiasts, considering what is going on worldwide. With the eyes of the world on Lucien Favre's side, they put on a show of the highest quality to move agonisingly close to Bayern Munich and give us what we all need at the moment - a beautifully poised title race.

Erling Haaland (Dortmund): Brandt, Hazard and Haaland produced a blistering display of attacking football, but it was the latter who shades it. The 19-year-old opened the scoring with a ruthless finish and was involved with two more goals as he showcased his undeniable ability in front of the world.

Dortmund: Burki 6, Piszczek 6, Hummels 7, Akani 7, Hakimi 8, Dahoud 7, Delaney 6, Guerriero 8, Brandt 9, Haaland 9, Hazard 9. Subs: Sancho 5, Gotze N/A, Balderdi 6, Schmelzer N/A.

Schalke: Schubert 4, Todibo 4, Sane 6, Nastasic 5, Kenny 6, Caligiuri 6, McKennie 5, Serdar 6, Oczpika 5, Harit 6, Raman 6. Subs: Miranda 5, Matondo 6, Burgstaller 6, Schopf 5, Becker N/A.

29' - GOAL! Dortmund 1-0 Schalke (Haaland): WE HAVE A GOAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL! And who else but Erling Haaland provides it. It's a lovely slick move by Dortmund, Brandt plays a clever flick into the path of Hazard who drills in a low cross and it's clinically finished by the ruthless Haaland with the side of his foot.

45' - GOAL! Dortmund 2-0 Schalke (Gurreiro): Schalke are all out of sorts and Dortmund punish them with a second goal on the stroke of half-time! Goalkeeper Schubert fails to get any power in his clearance, Delaney pounces in midfield, passes to Brandt whose perfectly-weighted pass finds Guerriero and he buries it past the hapless keeper.

48' - GOAL! Dortmund 3-0 Schalke (Hazard): That will be that, won't it?! Hazard puts the game beyond Schalke's reach with another cracking goal on the counter-attack! Haaland squeezes a pass through to Brandt, although he's caught by Sane in the process. The referee plays advantage as Brandt releases Hazard who beats Schubert at his near post.

63' - GOAL! Dortmund 4-0 Schalke (Guerreiro): Oh my, what a finish! Haaland slips a beautiful pass between the Schalke defence to break the visitors' offside trap and Guerreiro finishes with the outside of his boot. Football is back, in style!