Borussia Dortmund moved level on points with Bayern Munich in 2nd after disposing of an abject Schalke side to gain Revierderby bragging rights.
Goals from defenders Manuel Akanji and Mats Hummels plus a goal from teenage sensation Erling Braut Haaland were enough to seperate the two sides.
Story of the match
The first half was nothing short of dire, with both sides looking off the pace. Dortmund were having most of the ball but were still unable to create many chances of note.
The best chance early on came from Mahmoud Dahoud, who fired just over Fredrik Ronnow's goal.
Schalke looked like a side who were winless and low on confidence, failing to register a single shot on target in the whole game.
The second half was much better by the home side, who looked more creative and knew that one goal would probably mean the floodgates would open.
They finally got their goal from a corner. Taken short, it came to Raphael Guerreiro, who unleashed a fierce drive which Ronnlow could only parry into the path of Manuel Akanji to poke in from close range.
The floodgates certainly did open and it wouldn't be a Dortmund win without Erling Haaland getting in on the act. Jadon Sancho slipped him in and he chipped the goalkeeper to double the lead.
From another corner Mats Hummels rounded the solid performance off with a powerful header past Ronnlow.
Schalke at no point looked like mounting a fight, going down with a whimper which will further anger an already annoyed fanbase.
Takeaways
Dortmund can't take this as gospel
To score three in any game is always a positive, and to beat a rival is always huge. But this Schalke team are the worst outfit in years, and Dortmund's defensive worries are still there. Against a better team they will be tested, and they still need to improve in that area.
Horrendous doesn't describe Schalke
This Schalke side have somehow found a way to regress on rock bottom. Today they didn't even bother competing and are in serious trouble of being dragged into a relegation battle, since it's unclear where the points could be coming from.
Man of the match - Raphael Guerreiro
An assist and an overall great performance, it was a good day at the office for Raphael Guerreiro. Having Sancho, Haaland, and Reyna in front of him probably helps the Portuguese international shine and go unnoticed. He is a key player both for club and country and tonight he showed why that is the case.