Borussia Dortmund Maintain Perfect Bundesliga Start with 3-0 Victory

Borussia Dortmund kept their perfect Bundesliga start alive with a controlled, sometimes ruthless, 3-0 win over newly promoted SC Paderborn 07 on Saturday – a scoreline that barely flattered them.

Fast start, familiar finisher

Any nerves inside the stadium disappeared almost instantly. After just five minutes, Fábio Silva sliced Paderborn open. The former PSV forward burst through the middle, rounded goalkeeper Nahuel Noll with composure and rolled in the opener for 1-0. One chance, one goal, and Dortmund were already dictating the tempo.

Niko Kovac had handed Joey Veerman his first Bundesliga start, and the Dutch midfielder quickly showed why. He dictated from deep, demanded the ball, and soon tested Noll himself with a firm effort that the Paderborn keeper had to beat away.

Jobe Bellingham then went close, dragging a shot just wide as Dortmund began to swarm around the visitors’ box. Paderborn’s reply was sporadic but not entirely toothless. Laurin Curda thumped a shot into the side-netting, a reminder that a one-goal lead can vanish in a heartbeat.

Offside frustration for Guirassy

As the first half wore on, Dortmund looked to put the game to bed before the interval, and Serhou Guirassy thought he had done exactly that. Twice.

First, he lifted a clever dink over Noll and wheeled away, only to see the flag go up. Moments later, he rose to head home what seemed a second Dortmund goal. Again, offside. Two finishes, no reward, and Paderborn somehow still clung to a 1-0 deficit at the break.

Control after the interval

The pattern barely changed after half-time. Dortmund tightened their grip, Paderborn dropped deeper, and the chances kept coming.

Ethan Nwaneri found space but couldn’t convert. Bellingham drove forward and missed the target. Guirassy, desperate to see his name on the scoresheet for real this time, passed up another opening. The second goal felt inevitable, yet for a while it refused to arrive.

Paderborn, for their part, offered very little going forward. Any rare foray into Dortmund territory was quickly snuffed out, the newly promoted side penned back and increasingly chasing shadows.

Nmecha steps in and finishes the job

Then Felix Nmecha entered the stage and settled the contest with a burst of quality.

Ten minutes from time, the substitute picked up the ball on the edge of the box, threw in a sharp step-over to unbalance his marker and curled a precise finish into the far corner for 2-0. The pressure finally told, and with it, any lingering doubt disappeared.

Marcel Sabitzer almost added a spectacular third shortly after, rattling the crossbar with a powerful strike. Paderborn were hanging on, but the final blow was still to come.

Nmecha delivered it in style. As the ball looped into the area, he adjusted his body and launched into an overhead kick, catching it sweetly to make it 3-0. A stunning way to seal both his brace and Dortmund’s third straight league victory.

Three games, three wins, and attacking options all over the pitch – Kovac’s Dortmund are up and running, and the rest of the Bundesliga can already see the standard they intend to set.