Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho netted a late goal to give the Bundesliga leaders a 2-1 win at bitter rivals Schalke in the Ruhr valley derby on Saturday and send them nine points clear.
The 18-year-old, who has scored five goals and set up six in a sparkling season so far, started a quick move down the left and then deftly slotted home the winner in the 74th minute.
Thomas Delaney had silenced the 80,000 crowd with a glancing header in the seventh minute after Marco Reus whipped a free kick into the box.
Bundesliga leading scorer Paco Alcacer then came close with a powerful shot as the visitors confirmed their title favourites tag with a dominant opening period.
The Royal Blues’ fate looked to have been sealed late in the first half when their last fit forward, Guido Burgstaller, who had their best chance on the half-hour, had to go off injured.
However last season’s runners-up, already missing injured forwards Mark Uth, Franco di Santo and Breel Embolo, earned a surprise penalty to level through Daniel Caligiuri on the hour.
But Sancho completed another fine performance to secure a fifth straight league win that lifted undefeated Dortmund to 36 points, nine ahead of second-placed Bayern Munich, who beat Nuremberg 3-0. Schalke dropped to 13th on 14 points
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