Borussia Dortmund scored three late goals to record a deserved 3-0 victory over Schalke 04 in the Ruhr derby at Signal Iduna Park this afternoon.
Dortmund offered an early sign of what was to come as Marco Reus dragged his effort wide before Shinji Kagawa's lobbed effort drifted just past the post.
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Despite enjoying an extended spell in control of possession early in the game, Schalke looked vulnerable every time Dortmund committed men forward, and Timon Wellenreuther was forced into action to deny Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nuri Sahin, who failed to convert with a free header from close range.
Dortmund continued to pile the pressure on as Reus struck the crossbar via a deflection from Roman Neustadter.
Wellenreuther was involved once again early in the second half as the young shot-stopper blocked a swerving effort from Reus, before Neustadter cleared the danger under pressure from Kagawa in the six-yard box.
Schalke struggled to offer any kind of attacking threat at the other end, and their goalkeeper continued to be tested as Henrikh Mkhitaryan forced another save from a tight angle.
Dortmund were finally rewarded for their dominance with 12 minutes of normal time remaining when he latched on to Sahin's deflected pass before picking out the bottom corner.
The Schalke defence was breached again a few moments later when Mkhitaryan tapped home from Ilkay Gundogan's inch-perfect cross to score his first league goal of the season.
There was still time for Reus to add a third as he dispossessed Wellenreuther before stroking the ball into an empty net to hand his side a fourth successive Bundesliga win.
Callum Mulvihill
