Borussia Dortmund Rout VfL Wolfsburg but Have Goalkeeper Roman Burki to Thank

Once Borussia Dortmund were up by two goals after only 17 minutes against VfL Wolfsburg on Bundesliga Matchday 4 on Tuesday evening, most will have expected a similarly spectacular result as the 6-0 victories over Legia Warsaw and SV Darmstadt.

Going only by the box score, that's exactly what happened. The Black and Yellows beat the Wolves, who hadn't conceded a single goal on the first three matchdays of the campaign, 5-1 at the Volkswagen Arena.

However, it's not a stretch to claim the result could easily have gone the other way, or that the hosts deserved at least a point for their efforts.

Thomas Tuchel's remarks in his post-match press conference were no humblebrag: "For a long time it did not feel like such a clear result for us. We scored five goals and took an early lead but then we suffered for quite a spell in the first half and in the opening stages of the second period, because we gave away a lot of good-quality chances."

Indeed, one look at the game's statistics is enough to understand how tight an affair it was despite the impressive final result for the visitors. Per German sport magazine Kicker, the two sides split possession 50-50, but the Wolves had a higher pass-completion rate, won more duels and took five more shots than Dortmund.

The expected-goals graphics below show how easily Wolfsburg could have got a result out of the match:

Dortmund got lucky that opposing attackers such as Bruno Henrique and Germany international Mario Gomez wasted a boatload of chances with some almost comical misses from close range, but the Ruhr side mostly had to thank goalkeeper Roman Burki for their win.

It may sound surreal after a 5-1 win, but the Switzerland international had to keep his team in the game for a long stretch before and immediately after half-time. It was arguably the 25-year-old's most impressive shot-stopping performance in a Dortmund shirt, as he looked insuperable in many situations.

Henrique should have equalised four minutes after Raphael Guerreiro opened the scoring, but Burki stood his ground and offered the Brazilian no angle to find the net. The same tactic saw him prevail against Gomez later in the half, as the 31-year-old hit him from point-blank range.

Flying saves against a free-kick from Ricardo Rodriguez and a strong hit from distance from Maximilian Arnold topped off a magnificent first half for Burki.

Chances kept coming for the hosts early in the second period, none bigger than a double opportunity for birthday boy Julian Draxler and Gomez in the 50th minute. Burki not only dealt with the 23-year-old's shot, he miraculously kept the rebound from going in, punching the ball off the line and onto Gomez's foot, from where it hit the post.

"

What a save from Bürki, probably the best performance from him so far! pic.twitter.com/f1GKKjEp7C

— Ali (@Gxetze) September 20, 2016"

The former VfB Stuttgart and Bayern Munich man jokingly told German broadcaster Sky after the game that he almost broke his foot in the sequence, only to find himself behind the line and not the ball.

Burki was finally beaten by substitute Daniel Didavi in the 54th minute. Dortmund left a gaping hole on their left side of defence that fellow sub Paul Seguin exploited with a simple cross toward the former Stuttgart man.

Captain Marcel Schmelzer was caught out of position, which in turn forced centre-back Matthias Ginter to make a step to the outside and made it look as though he was ball-watching.

Burki then kept out another strong long-range effort from Draxler and thus paved the way for Dortmund's kill shot, as Ousmane Dembele and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the third and fourth goals in quick succession, effectively ending all hopes of a Wolfsburg comeback.

Dembele's first competitive goal for Dortmund was a thing of beauty with a drop of bitterness, for the 19-year-old was a fraction offside when he received the ball from substitute Gonzalo Castro:

Still, it was the perfect counter-attack from the Black and Yellows, with Mario Gotze casually nutmegging his opponent at the halfway line, Guerreiro having the presence of mind to play an outside-of-the-boot pass into the run of Castro, and the 29-year-old selflessly squaring for the Frenchman when he could have scored himself.

The longtime Bayer Leverkusen player followed up on his strong performances of the week replacing Christian Pulisic at half-time, as he also assisted Aubameyang's second goal to make it 4-1. Castro is showing an incredible level of efficiency at the moment, as evidenced by the stats below:

Under normal circumstances, both he and Guerreiro would have had a legitimate claim for man-of-the-match honours.

Fans are quickly falling in love with Euro 2016 winner Guerreiro, who put in another all-action performance from central midfield, scoring the opener with a neat finish from a tight angle, assisting Aubameyang's first goal with a lovely flick and Lukasz Piszczek's goal to make it 5-1 with a perfect delivery from a corner.

Tuchel had high praise for his summer signing:

"

It doesn't surprise me because he's just that good at playing football. He carries a really extraordinary presence and gives us the feeling that he has settled in to the team. He's incredibly talented and makes the players around him better. It's a real blessing to have a player like him.

"

However, the best man on the pitch—and the main reason Dortmund won—was Burki, who earned a perfect 10-out-of-10 rating from ESPN FC's Stefan Buczko, as well as grades that translate to nine out of 10 from local papers Ruhr Nachrichten and WAZ (links in German).

Naturally, Burki was ecstatic after the match, per the club's official website:

"

Today I had the chance to shine on several occasions. Of course I'm happy that I pulled off a few saves which kept us in the game. We knew what was awaiting us here, because Wolfsburg have enormous attacking quality.

"

His head coach, meanwhile, sung the praises of his No. 1 goalkeeper: "In his second year he has developed remarkably as a person, as a character, as a goalkeeper and as a player."

ODD ANDERSEN/Getty Images

After Burki didn't get many opportunities to prove himself in the previous matches, he got too many for anyone's liking against Wolfsburg. Dortmund's defensive organisation was lacking and at around half-time, they struggled retaining the ball for longer spells to calm down the match.

The injury to starting centre-back Marc Bartra, who played an incredible no-look through ball to Guerreiro for the first goal, obviously played a part. The Catalan went to the ground after 11 minutes and immediately signalled that he had to be taken off, pointing at his groin area.

Dortmund would be in a bit of a bind if the 25-year-old is out for an extended amount of time, seeing as Sven Bender is still not back in training after picking up a foot injury while on international duty with Germany at the Rio Olympics, leaving Ginter as the only senior back-up option at the heart of defence.

With or without Bartra, the Black and Yellows will have to improve massively in defence and quickly, with a UEFA Champions League meeting with Real Madrid on September 27 looming large.

Of course, with Burki in this form, even the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema could meet their match under the Westfalenstadion floodlights.

Lars Pollmann also writes for The Yellow Wall. You can follow him on Twitter.