BERLIN, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Borussia Dortmund wrapped up a "Revierderby" victory after crushing Schalke 4-0 on the back of a brace from Raphael Guerreiro in the curtain raiser of the 26th round of the Bundesliga on Saturday.
After roughly 95,000 minutes without Bundesliga action, Germany's top flight returned from the coronavirus postponement to play behind closed doors.
"BVB" though did not need long to adjust to the new situation as Thorgan Hazard's build-up work and pinpoint cross from the right wing allowed Erling Haaland to neatly finish past Schalke goalkeeper Markus Schubert from very close range with 29 minutes played.
Despite the absence of 80,000 spectators at the Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund pressed again, highly motivated for a second goal and were rewarded before the break as Schubert's misplaced clearance found its way back via Julian Brandt who played in Guerreiro, who made no mistake from a sharp angle.
After the restart, Schalke tried to take the reins but Daniel Caligiuri's free kick into the wall remained the visitor's only noteworthy chance and the hosts made it 3-0 after Hazard completed a Dortmund counter attack from their own territory initiated by Haaland in the 49th minute.
The third goal took the wind out of Schalke's sails and Dortmund continued to press forward. Guerreiro sealed the deal and sewed up his brace after trading passes with Haaland before firing the ball with the outside of his boot past a hapless Schubert in the 63rd minute.
With the result, Lucien Favre's men sit only one point adrift of front runners Bayern Munich while Schalke slip to 8th after their 7th defeat of the season.
Elsewhere, third placed Leipzig dropped points after sharing the spoils with a resilient Freiburg following a 1-1 stalemate.
Hertha Berlin recorded a win in the debut of their new coach Bruno Labbadia as three second-half goals edged Hoffenheim 3-0 on home soil and relegation threatened Fortuna Dusseldorf played out a goalless draw with last-placed Paderborn.