Friday, August 27, 2021
In stoppage time
Haaland hammers Dortmund into happiness
A crazy game finds a late winner in Borussia Dortmund. BVB leads twice, but the guests from Hoffenheim come back twice. In stoppage time, Erling Haaland hammers the ball into the machine from close range and calms Dortmund’s nerves.
Even minutes after the spectacle, Torgarant Erling Haaland was electrified and heated up the Dortmund south stand. Previously, the Norwegian striker, together with two 18-year-old football jewels, saved Borussia Dortmund from another setback. After a wild game, Haaland scored the 3-2 (0-0) victory over TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in stoppage time, leading his team to the top of the Bundesliga table for at least one day. Before that, the two youngsters Giovanni Reyna (48th) and Jude Bellingham (69th) had put BVB in the lead twice, but Christoph Baumgartner (61st) and Munas Dabbur (90th) each had an answer.
“He’s a machine. I don’t have enough words to describe how good he is and what a good guy he is,” enthused Bellingham at the DAZN streaming service about Haaland and added: “Hoffenheim was very good and has us causes a lot of problems. But we showed character, came back and won the game. “
BVB thus made amends for the annoying defeat a week earlier at SC Freiburg (1: 2). In contrast, in front of 25,000 spectators in the Westfalenstadion, the guests suffered their first setback after nine consecutive rounds of nine games without defeat. In a hectic game, BVB could not be blamed for a lack of mentality this time. Passion and commitment were right, rather the Dortmunders lacked balance. Because with all the offensive power, the defensive wobbled often worryingly.
“In the end we showed a great fighting spirit,” said BVB goalkeeper Gregor Kobel. “We have now won both home games. We are still very, very early in the season. It was a special preparation.”
There were also reasons for that, as coach Marco Rose had to improvise in central defense again. In addition to the failures of defense chief Mats Hummels and the long-term injured Dan-Axel Zagadou, Emre Can also had to pass at short notice due to muscular problems. So again the Belgian Axel Witsel was asked to help out in the back. “The fact is that we’ve simply had a construction site there for some time,” complained the coach.
Wild second half
The black and yellow team went to work against the robust Hoffenheim team (three yellow cards in the first 20 minutes). But first there was a moment of shock when Hoffenheim’s striker Andrej Kramaric hit the post early with his head (3rd). After the shaky start, Dortmund got the game under control. But as in Freiburg, there was a lack of creativity and precision when passing into the tips. Despite all the superiority, the scoring chances in the first round were not compelling enough to overcome Hoffenheim’s goalkeeper Oliver Baumann. Neither a shot by Reyna (4th), nor a header from Manuel Akanji (9th) or an attempt by new signing Donyell Malen (40th) presented a challenge for the number one from Hoffenheim.
The guests, on the other hand, are different: the Dortmund opponent of the past few years did not come often, but dangerous in front of the gate. Goalkeeper Gregor Kobel saved the Rose-Elf from falling behind when he parried from close range against Baumgartner (39th).
The second half began like the first: with a chance from Kramaric (46th). But then BVB was there. After a fine combination via Marco Reus and Bellingham, Reyna scored his sixth goal in his 50th game. Anyone who thought BVB would get more security into the game with the lead was mistaken. Hoffenheim turns up and already had a huge chance to equalize through Kramaric (59th). Kobel was a great rescuer. Two minutes later, the Swiss was also beaten after Baumgartner put the ball into the far corner on a pass from Dennis Geiger.
But BVB had an answer ready again. After an unsuccessful header defense, Bellingham put the ball into the goal from 14 meters. But even after that, Hoffenheim did not give up. A free kick from Kramaric defused Kobel (74th) and there were other dangerous scenes. Erling Haaland, however, missed the preliminary decision (82nd and 87th). That should take revenge before Haaland cheered in the end.
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