Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang claimed his 14th Bundesliga goal of the season as Borussia Dortmund edged past arch-rivals Schalke to win a tense Ruhr derby 3-2 on Sunday.
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Aubameyang joined Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski as the league’s top scorer by netting Dortmund’s third after midfielder Shinji Kagawa and defender Matthias Ginter had netted at Borussia’s Signal Iduna Park stadium.
Schalke are now winless in their last six matches, but the Royal Blues fought to the end as Netherlands striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored goals in each half following mistakes in the Dortmund defence.
“There was no need for it to have been so tense at the end,” admitted Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel as his side enjoyed their seventh-straight win in all competitions.
Aubameyang has played 21 games for Dortmund this season. He has scored in 15 of them! 22 goals now.
— Cristian Nyari (@Cnyari) November 8, 2015
“We had so many high-quality chances that we could have made it 4-1, but I had the feeling that the players didn’t want to make any mistakes, which made us tense.”
The result leaves second-placed Dortmund five points behind Bundesliga leaders Bayern, and eight points clear of third-placed Wolfsburg, while Schalke stay fifth.
After Kagawa gave Dortmund a 30th-minute lead with a rare header, Huntelaar equalised three minutes later after Borussia captain Mats Hummels gave the ball away.
The hosts then netted twice as Ginter was left unmarked at a corner on 43 minutes as it finished 2-1 at the break. Aubameyang slotted what proved to be the winning goal after a superb final pass from Gonzalo Castro.
Aubameyang received a yellow card after pulling off his shirt in celebration to reveal a T-shirt bearing the text ‘Do you remember?’ under the Batman logo, having donned a “Caped Crusader” outfit in the derby last February when he also scored in a 3-0 win over Schalke.
But Huntelaar grabbed his second when Dortmund centre-back Sokratis tried to back-heel a cross, but the ball landed at the feet of the Dutch player who slotted home on 71 minutes.
Meanwhile, Augsburg remained at the bottom of the league after their 2-1 defeat at home to Werder Bremen when Peru veteran Claudio Pizarro, 37, scored his first goal since his return from Bayern.
Midfielder Fin Bartels doubled the visitors lead on 69 minutes before Augsburg defender Paul Verhaegh netted a late penalty as Bremen moved up to 14th.
