Thomas Tuchel praised the performance of his Borussia Dortmund players after they dominated Bayer Leverkusen for the entire 90 minutes of their 3-0 win at Signal Iduna Park.
Jonas Hofmann's first-half goal gave Dortmund a deserved lead, but when Leverkusen threatened to force their way back into the contest, Dortmund shut their visitors out and added further efforts through Shinji Kagawa’s cool finish and a penalty from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Tuchel said: "We knew beforehand that we needed an absolute top performance. We have displayed a great sharpness.
"Our initial phase was very good. After 1-0, it was a more open game. With the last 30 minutes I am very satisfied.
"It was not an easy match, Bayer play very good football, but we were very concrete."
Dortmund will attempt to further extend their record-breaking winning streak in forthcoming games against Hoffenheim and Darmstadt, and Tuchel added: "We are here also to inspire our audience. We succeed at present."
In the end he was an unused substitute, and Tuchel explained: "He has missed 17 days, during which time he could only ride a bike. You lose too much.
"The risk of a subsequent injury was too big."
