Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel has praised the performance of striker Pierre-Emerick Aubemeyang after he found the net four times in Saturday's 5-2 mauling of Hamburg.
The Gabonese international had been omitted from the midweek squad that beat Sporting Lisbon for reportedly attending a party in Italy without permission.
But he returned to the starting XI in style against Hamburg, and Tuchel has admitted the importance of last season's top scorer in his side's ambitions.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's week
Wednesday: Banned by club for being late
Saturday: Scores a hat-trick for Dortmund in 28 mins vs. Hamburg pic.twitter.com/Sjp4Rix9dy
"Four goals is outstanding, an absolutely top performance," Tuchel told a press conference, viaSporting News. "It always was and is clear that we cannot achieve any of our goals without Aubameyang."
Tuchel added that the win over the Bundesliga's bottom club was vital as they look to close the gap on the league's top four.
"There was no alternative [but] for us to win here. We wanted this result and so we have got it," he added. "It wasn't primarily about tactics. We urgently needed this result. There are many things for us to work on, but now is not the time for general criticism."
Match winnerAubameyang apologised after the game for his actions, adding that he was happy with the team's performance.
"I made a mistake and wanted to apologise to the team and coach, so that's it," Aubameyang said in a post-match interview, quoted byGoal.
"Everyone knows Dortmund have to win games and when you don't after four games we start to feel the pressure. I think we did well, all the team played well."
Asked about the upcoming clash with Bayern Munich, he added: "We are ready. Now we go to the national team but we know that when we come back we have to be ready."