BERLIN, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Borussia Dortmund wrapped up an uncontested "Revier Derby" victory after crushing Schalke 4-0 on a brace from Raphael Guerreiro in the curtain raiser of the 26th round in Bundesliga on Saturday.
After roughly 95,000 minutes without Bundesliga action, Germany's top flight returned from the coronavirus break to play behind closed doors.
The "BVB" though did not need long to adjust to the new situation as Thorgan Hazard's build-up work and pinpoint cross from the right wing allowed Erling Haaland to tap home the ball past Schalke goalkeeper Markus Schubert from very close range with 29 minutes played.
Despite the absence of 80,000 spectators at the Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund pressed highly motivated for their second goal and they were rewarded before the break as Schubert's misplaced goalie kick found its way back via Julian Brandt and Guerreiro, who made no mistake to slot home from sharp angle just before the half time.
After the restart, Schalke tried to take the reins but Daniel Caligiuri's free kick into the wall remained the visitor's only note worthy chance whereas the hosts made it 3-0 after Hazard completed a counter attack from their own territory initiated by Haaland in the 49th minute.
The third goal took the wind out of Schalke's sails meanwhile Dortmund continued to press forward. Guerreiro sealed the deal and sewed up his brace after trading passes with Haaland before firing the ball with the outside of the boot past a hapless Schubert in the 63rd minute.
With the result, Lucien Favre's men sit only one point adrift of front runners Bayern Munich while Schalke slipped to the 8th position and suffered their 7th defeat of the season.
Elsewhere, third placed Leipzig dropped points after sharing the spoils with resilient Freiburg following a 1-1 stalemate.
Hertha Berlin recorded a win at the debut of their new coach Bruno Labbadia as three second-half goals edged Hoffenheim 3-0 on home soil and relegation threatened Fortuna Dusseldorf played out a goalless draw with last placed Paderborn.