As part of the USA tour, BVB took on second division side San Diego Loyal on Thursday evening (local time) in San Diego. There were six different goalscorers in the 6-0 (2-0) victory.

Led for the first time by new BVB captain Emre Can, the BVB first team took to the pitch at Snapdragon Stadium. New signings Felix Nmecha, who is gradually building up his fitness ahead of the season, and Marcel Sabitzer, who only arrived on Tuesday, were in the stadium, but were not in the match day squad. Injured Giovanni Reyna also put in an appearance for the fans in his home country and was happy to sign autographs and take selfies with fans even before kick-off.

After kick-off, BVB made a perfect start in front of numerous Black and Yellow fans among the 12,207 spectators in attendance. Youssoufa Moukoko laid off Julian Ryerson’s to Julien Duranville, who gave his side a 1-0 lead in just the second minute of the game. Five minutes later, Karim Adeyemi had a goal ruled out for offside. However, it became clear afterwards that San Diego Loyal, the club of US football icon Landon Donovan, are already in the middle of their season in the US second tier. Time and again, the hosts found gaps in the Dortmund defence and created several dangerous chances – four times between the ninth and eleventh minutes alone. Gregor Kobel showed all his skills in goal to deny Robinson Moshobane from a just a few yards out.

Shortly afterwards, goalscorer Duranville had to leave the pitch due to a muscle injury in his thigh. He was replaced by Donyell Malen. But it was still San Diego that were creating – and missing – good opportunities, with Evan Conway (15 and 24) and Blake Bodily (17) going close. BVB also looked dangerous, going close through Malen, whose shot flew past the left post on 19 minutes, and Niklas Süle with a header two minutes later. Ultimately, it was a piece of individual brilliance that led to the next goal: Moukoko beat goalkeeper Jorge Ruiz Ojeda with a beautiful solo effort and scored in the 27th minute from an acute angle to double the BVB lead. Malen was then denied twice by the opposition goalkeeper on 29 and 40 minutes, and Reus fired over the bar one minute later.

Seven changes at the break

In the second half, BVB coach Edin Terzic made seven changes, with only Niklas Süle, Julian Brandt, Marco Reus and substitute Donyell Malen remaining on the pitch. BVB continued to have the upper hand in the first few minutes after the change of ends, with a nice combination between Brandt, Salih Özcan and Reus, but the latter’s cross did not quite reach Sebastien Haller in the 49th minute. A few seconds later, Thomas Meunier fired just over the bar. In the 56th minute, Ramy Bensebaini tested substitute goalkeeper Duran Ferree with a well-struck shot. That was followed by nine minutes in which BVB really good going. First, Reus scored with a direct free-kick from 18 metres to make it 3-0 on 60 minutes. Following a deflected cross from Thorgan Hazard, Thomas Meunier then steered the ball home to make it 4-0 in the 62nd minute. Six minutes later, Haller made it 5-0 from the penalty spot after Samuel Bamba had been brought down in the box. Meunier almost had his second goal of the day, but Ferree cleared his effort off the line.

Mushagalusa missed San Diego’s biggest chance in the second half missed in the 77th minute when he fired over from just a few metres out. Afterwards, Schlotterbeck had to leave the pitch, having injured himself while trying to intervene. Morgan Heckworth missed a big opportunity to score a consolation goal for the hosts a few minutes before the final whistle. At the other end, Paul Besong showed him how it was done, finding the net for the 6-0 final score after a fine solo run in the 89th minute.

Next up on the tour of the USA, BVB will take on Manchester United (31 July at 3:00 CET in Las Vegas) and Chelsea in Chicago (3 August at 2:30 CET). The games will be broadcast live on BVB-TV.

BVB 1st half: Kobel – Wolf, Süle, Hummels, Ryerson – Can – Duranville (Malen, 16), Reus, Brandt, Adeyemi – Moukoko
BVB 2nd half: Meyer – Meunier, Süle (Papadopoulos, 63), Schlotterbeck (Blank, 81), Bensebaini – Özcan – Malen (Bamba, 63), Reus (Besong, 63), Brandt (Pohlmann, 63), Hazard – Haller

Goals: 0-1 Duranville (2), 0-2 Moukoko (27), 0-3 Reus (60), 0-4 Meunier (62), 0-5 Haller (pen, 68), 0-6 Besong (89)
Christina Reinke