Borussia Dortmund beat Hamburger SV 2-0 as Guirassy and Karetsas set the tone

Borussia Dortmund opened their Bundesliga season with a 2-0 win over Hamburger SV, and the decisive moments came from individuals more than long spells of control. Serhou Guirassy scored in the 9th minute, Konstantinos Karetsas supplied the assist, and Dortmund never really let the game drift after that.

Guirassy's early finish and Karetsas' influence

Karetsas was the most active attacker on the pitch. He finished with six shots, the most of any player in the match, and a 7.7 rating, while also creating the opener for Guirassy. Dortmund's xG total was 1.36, ahead of Hamburg's 0.71, which fits the flow of a game where the home side looked more dangerous without needing to overwhelm their visitors.

The second Dortmund goal came in first-half stoppage time through Giannis Konstantelias, who made it 2-0 in the 45'+1 minute. Those two moments were enough to settle the result before the break.

Inácio's red card closed the night out

The discipline story arrived late. Samuele Inacio was shown a straight red card in the 77th minute, and the match swung firmly into game-management territory after that.

Dortmund had also marked the occasion with a minute's tribute to former captain Wolfgang Paul before kick-off. It was a tidy start for the home side, but the clearest takeaway is still the same: Guirassy finished early, Karetsas drove the attack, and Hamburg were left chasing a game that had already moved away from them by half-time.

The next league test will tell us more about how this forward line settles, but the opener already gave Dortmund a clean sheet, two first-half goals and a red card to Hamburg's substitute.