Tuesday, September 28, 2021
BVB starts flawlessly in the CL
Haaland replacement makes Dortmund happy for the first time
Borussia Dortmund has a hard time attacking because Erling Haaland is missing. On the defensive, however, the Black and Yellows are stable in the second Champions League game. And luckily there is new signing Donyell Malen in attack, who ends his long wait against Sporting.
It works without Erling Haaland. Donyell Malen gave Borussia Dortmund the perfect six-point start with his premier goal and opened the door to the knockout round of the Champions League wide. The 30 million transfer replaced the Norwegian goal machine in the uninspiring 1-0 (1-0) against Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday evening as the striker and scorer of the winning goal.
After a few unfortunate actions, the Dutchman Malen skilfully pushed the ball into the far corner in the 37th minute. On October 19, BVB will play for Ajax Amsterdam, which has also won its first two games, to take the lead in Group C – a win means almost eighth place in the last nine games for the DFB Cup winner.
Dortmund: Kobel – Meunier, Hummels, Akanji, Guerreiro (74th Schulz) – Witsel – Bellingham, Dahoud (8th Brandt) – Reus, Malen (74th Reinier), Thorgan Hazard (71st Wolf). – Trainer: rose
Lisbon: Adan – Luis Neto, Coates, Feddal – Porro (84th Tabata), Palhinha (84th Daniel Braganca), Matheus Nunes, Reis (84th Esgaio) – Sarabia (74th Jovane Cabral), Paulinho, Tiago Tomas (58th Santos ). – Trainer: Amorim
Referee: Srdjan Jovanovic (Serbia)
Gate: Draw 1: 0 (37th)
Viewers: 25,000 (sold out)
Yellow cards: Bellingham, Hummels – Matheus Nunes, Luis Neto
“It was hard work. But I’m happy that we accepted it. Not everything was perfect, but the attitude was right,” said Mats Hummels on Amazon Prime. Even without Haaland (muscular problems), coach Marco Rose wanted to send “a clear signal” to the group opponents: no hopes, first place is reserved for BVB. He would also “like to play to zero again,” added Rose before the kick-off at Amazon Prime. First uncertainties from Mats Hummels (21./22.) Made this difficult.
More exciting, however, was the question of who should crack the Sporting bulwark, which had been torn apart against Ajax at 1: 5 according to all the rules of the art. After all, captain Marco Reus was available again after a capsule irritation in his knee, and in the absence of Haaland, who has more Champions League goals (21) than games (17), the still goalless Malen tried it as the center of a row of three.
Two more Dortmund hits do not count
The early substitution of Julian Brandt for the injured Mahmoud Dahoud (8th) made the line-up even more offensive. However, the Portuguese held against it in a well-organized manner, more than a post header from offside (Malen, 14th) did not initially hit Antonio Adan’s goal. There was no inspiration, Malen acted awkward at times – but it was worth seeing in front of 25,000 spectators in the Signal Iduna Park, which was sold out under corona conditions.
Reus was half a meter offside at his goal (48th), otherwise it could have been a quiet second half for Dortmund. BVB then pushed for the preliminary decision, Lisbon had to fight hard with a gruff appearance to stay in the game. What Sporting brought into the opposing half was largely harmless: BVB goalkeeper Gregor Kobel only had a few crosses and failed headers to intercept for a long time.
Nevertheless, the hosts were forced to always be on their guard. Hummels suppressed a dangerous counterattack against Matheus Nunes, for example at the expense of a yellow card (59th). Sporting gradually increased the risk, which BVB did not always handle confidently, especially since he only very rarely radiated danger at the front. Malen, who left the field seconds later to applause, also scored from offside (74th).
In the Bundesliga, Dortmund will continue against FC Augsburg on Saturday. A must win to prevent FC Bayern Munich from pulling away early in the season – as long as Erling Haaland is fit again.