Donyell Malen scored twice as Borussia Dortmund won 4-0 in Cologne to continue their perfect start to 2024.

Cologne 0-4 Borussia Dortmund
Goals: 0-1 Malen 12' (assist: Brandt), 0-2 Füllkrug (pen. 58'), 0-3 Malen 61' (assist: Maatsen), 0-4 Moukoko 90'+2 (assist: Bynoe-Gittens)

Having produced an assist from the bench in the win over Darmstadt, Jadon Sancho was rewarded with his first start since rejoining Dortmund on loan from Manchester United in the January transfer window. The English winger didn't disappoint, carving out the game's first opening of note with a trademark jinking run that culminated in Julian Brandt stinging the palms of Cologne goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe from 18 yards. Brandt assumed creative duties soon after, BVB's midfield talisman sending in a low corner for Malen to sweep a sweet first-time finish into the bottom corner. Dortmund went close to doubling their lead late in the first half, but Schwäbe beat Niclas Füllkrug to Thomas Meunier's dangerous cross into the six-yard area.

Cologne showed signs of life after the restart as Jan Thielmann got away from half-time substitute Hendry Blank - on in place of Niklas Süle - to force a fabulous one-handed save from Gregor Kobel. Linton Maina then smashed an effort against the woodwork with Rasmus Carstensen skewing the rebound wide, but Cologne's hopes of turning the tide were floored by a decisive Dortmund one-two. In the space of just three minutes, Füllkrug scored from the penalty spot after Sancho had been brought to ground by Carstensen, before Malen collected Chelsea loanee Ian Maatsen's raking long ball and fired in his second of the contest. Substitutes Youssoufa Moukoko and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens combined in injury time to add the gloss to a result that keeps Dortmund on the fringes of the top four. Cologne are struggling at the opposite end of the spectrum, meanwhile, in the bottom two.

Watch: Jadon Sancho - back at Dortmund!

Match stats

• Sancho made his first Bundesliga start since 16 May 2021.
• Brandt produced his eighth assist of the season. Only Bayern Munich's Leroy Sané has more (10).
• Malen is Dortmund's top scorer in 2023/24, with seven goals.
• Edin Terzić recorded his first win in Cologne, having lost and drawn on his two previous two.
• Blank, 19, made his Bundesliga debut, having been an unused Dortmund substitute on three previous occasions.
• Cologne are winless in five since beating bottom side Darmstadt on Matchday 13 (D2, L3).

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Watch: Malen hails Dortmund's "quality players"

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Teams

Cologne: Schwäbe - Carstensen (Schmitz 87'), Hübers, Chabot, Finkgräfe - Ljubicic (Alidou 62'), Martel, Huseinbašić - Maina (Diehl 62'), Thielmann (Adamyan 87'), Kainz (c) (Christensen 74')
Unused subs: Pentke, Heintz, Kilian, Tigges
Out: Selke (foot), Uth (knee), Waldschmidt (broken leg)
Coach: Timo Schultz 

Dortmund: Kobel (c) - Meunier, Süle (Blank 46'), Schlotterbeck, Maatsen - Sabitzer, Özcan (Reyna 74'), Brandt (Reus 66') - Malen, Füllkrug (Moukoko 74'), Sancho (Bynoe-Gittens 66')
Unused subs: Meyer, Morey, Wolf, Pohlmann
Out: Adeyemi (ankle), Bensebaini (international duty), Can (knock), Haller (international duty), Hummels (ill), Nmecha (hip), Ryerson (knee)
Coach: Edin Terzić

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