Jadon Sancho put in a man of the match performance as a dominant second-half display from Borussia Dortmund helped them to brush aside Paderborn in a 6-1 hammering on Sunday.
Dortmund, without the prolific Erling Haaland leading the line, opted to utilise Thorgan Hazard as a false nine with Sancho and Julian Brandt either side in a clash against the Bundesliga's bottom club; and the first 45 minutes suggested that the damage of Tuesday's defeat to Bayern Munich was still fresh in the mind of this Dortmund side.
They weren't majorly troubled by the few half chances that Paderborn managed to put together but rather they seemed to be suffering from their own problems in the final third. Hazard and Raphael Guerreiro came the closest to scoring but were both denied on the goal line while Emre Can and Brandt saw their efforts sail high and wide.
And rather worryingly, Sancho, making his first start since the break, seemed to be the one struggling the most to make an impact. He battled to find routes through the defence but ended up falling in line with a flat Dortmund performance. They were pushing for a goal, and looked the likelier of the two sides to do so, but there was a concern that they could always be hit on the counter.
The second-half was a complete contrast to the first; a prime example for the old 'tale of two halves' cliche. Dortmund came out of the blocks intent on finding that opener and it was Sancho who was becoming a real threat. When Hazard managed to hit the net it firmly became a case of how many.
Those fears became more prominent for the hosts as Sancho grabbed his first just three minutes later. Uwe Hunemeier halved the deficit from the penalty spot in the 74th minute but the relentless Sancho was there again to restore the two-goal lead moments after. Finally, with Dortmund cruising at 5-1, the England international had his third with a neat near-post finish as they broke forward.
The first goal was perhaps the best indication of just how brilliant this Dortmund attack can be at their best. It was also a pointer to the more than influential attacking trio and how well they can work together; albeit aided by some questionable defending.
Sancho actually has no involvement until the moment he taps the ball into an empty net. Can's interception on halfway allows Thomas Delaney to play in the through ball to Brandt and with the defender ball-watching, Sancho reads the situation to put himself in a position for an easy finish.
It's remarkable that he actually ends up a good five yards away from the man who is supposed to be marking him going into the box. The defender commits to providing addition support for the player closest to the ball carrier, in this case Brandt, and what it actually allows is Sancho to move himself into the space to score.
That chance carried an xG rating of 0.83 which demonstrates just how effective his movement was during that passage of play. For comparison, a penalty has an xG of around 0.76; Sancho gave himself a chance that he simply couldn't miss.
Sancho's second was helped along by the goalkeeper not getting a strong hand on the shot. Once again it comes down to his movement and reading of the attacking situation. Hazard's pull-back to the edge of the area narrowly avoided the closest defender and when the ball arrived at Sancho's feet, he had a five-yard circle of space in front of him.
So while we can potentially point a finger and say the goalkeeper should be doing better that space was vital as it allowed Sancho to set himself for a shot on his weaker foot - perhaps that aided the curl on the ball which moves it just out of the full grasp of the Paderborn stopper.
The hat-trick goal was a classic counter-attacking move. Paderborn, who had committed players forward despite being 5-1 down and leaking goals in the closing stages of the game, were left short at the back and when Sancho connected with a long pass forward, it was always clear that he wasn't going to use Hazard in support.
You have to feel slightly sorry for Jamilu Collins who was always going to be the loser in this situation. He elects to hold off and block the passing lane to Hazard - allowing Sancho to drive forward and have more than enough time to compose himself and finish at the near post.
That near post finishing is one of many strengths that we can attribute to the 20-year-old. The goal that completed the trio came in perfect fashion - there was no doubt that he was going to convert the chance when he gained possession inside the Paderborn half.
Granted that Paderborn pose much less of a threat than Bayern but Sancho bounced back from a tough couple of weeks in the best possible way. He needed to provide goals at a time where the questions and the doubts were creeping in about Borussia Dortmund once again.
Sunday reminded us that Sancho is a top talent. We may still be waiting for him to prove that against Germany's top domestic side in Bayern but that's something that will be addressed in the future. The performance against Paderborn strongly suggests that the Sancho we know is back and will finish this season strongly.
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