Jadon Sancho made a winning return to Borussia Dortmund, supplying an assist for Marco Reus as goals from him, Julian Brandt and Youssoufa Moukoko snapped a four-game winless run for the Westphalians at bottom-placed Darmstadt.

Darmstadt made a confident start for a team rooted to the bottom of the Bundesliga, but that confidence took a blow when Dortmund drew first blood.

Jamie Bynoe-Gittens was the architect, picking the ball up in his own half and skipping past two players along the right-hand touchline before sending Brandt through, and the German did not even need to break his stride as he cut the ball into the bottom left-hand corner with just one touch.

Sancho made his second Dortmund debut – and his first competitive appearance since August – as he and Reus replaced the pair who had combined for the goal, though Darmstadt continued to probe and Kobel had to make a fine save to deny Pfeiffer from point-blank range.

Sancho and Reus then rolled back the clock to combine for Dortmund’s second, the Englishman marking his return with a familiar assist for the man he last teed up to score in May 2021.

Moukoko then wrapped up the points with a fine individual effort, hammering in off the underside of the crossbar for added effect as Dortmund took the points.