Erling Haaland gave Marco Reus and Co. an almost comforting hug after he personally destroyed Dortmund’s dream of a coup at Manchester City. In the end, the Norwegian goalkeeper, who had scored the 2-1 (0-0) winning goal for the English team against his former club, celebrated. “It was nice, it was an emotional game for me. Dortmund is an impressive club. I had a good time there,” said Haaland after his dream goal.
The surprise for Dortmund was within reach, but in the end they were left empty-handed. After a defensively disciplined performance for a long time, BVB led 1-0 up to the 80th minute, but then had to accept defeat on the second day of the Champions League. The black series against teams from the English Premier League continued, with BVB now losing the last eight duels in a row.
Haaland like Cruyff once did
Manchester’s hero was Haaland in the 84th minute. “Incredible,” said his coach Pep Guardiola about the goalscorer’s artistic contribution and felt reminded of Holland’s legend Johan Cruyff during the action. However, Haaland had a simple explanation: “I have long legs and I jumped well.”
The Dortmund cover had the Norwegian, who switched from BVB to City in the summer, well under control. John Stones equalized the Dortmund lead by Jude Bellingham in his English homeland (56th) (80th), BVB substitute keeper Alexander Meyer did not look good with his long-range shot.
“The frustration is very deep,” said Mats Hummels at DAZN: “It’s about winning, a point wouldn’t have been bad either. We had city. We sacrificed ourselves. Shortly before conceding we become passive and hope to bring the game over time. Then City is not so bad. (…) We were tired. It wasn’t due to the tactical change, but that we allowed two free balls in front of the goal instead of going over the limit by the 95th minute.” Looking at the match winner, Hummels said: “Erling Haaland is Erling Haaland.”
And BVB coach Edin Terzic said: “Now we’re going home empty-handed. That’s really bitter, the boys would have deserved at least one point.”
Goodbye
Before the ball rolled, the usual Champions League anthem was dispensed with out of respect for the late Queen Elizabeth II, and Manchester also played no music in the stadium before the game. Both teams also observed a minute’s silence and played with black ribbons. The flags at the stadium have been at half-mast since the Queen’s death on Thursday.
The reunion with Haaland was warm before kick-off. After all, the Norwegian had achieved great things for BVB in the past two and a half years with 86 goals and 109 direct involvements in goals in 89 competitive games. So it was now a question of getting this elemental force under control on the other side.
Dortmund chose a very defensive variant. When the hosts had possession of the ball, the black and yellow closed the center with seven or eight players. “The whole team is very dangerous. Focusing only on Erling would be negligent. We have to prevent the allusions to Erling,” Terzic explained the tactics.
Terzic has to rebuild
A tactic that bothered the English champions. Accordingly dissatisfied, Pep Guardiola marched up and down in the coaching zone. Almost unimaginatively, City circled the ball around the Bundesliga club’s penalty area without becoming really dangerous. So Haaland was largely unregistered in the storm center. The Norwegian recorded a total of eleven ball contacts in the first 45 minutes, even Anthony Modeste had one more on the opposite side.
BVB still had to change its central defense. After national player Nico Schlotterbeck complained of back pain in the final training session, Terzic relied on Niklas Süle and Mats Hummels in central defense. Schlotterbeck came on later. It was also Süle who cleared a dangerous cross with a header just before Haaland (15th). It was almost one of the highlights of an uneventful first half. Because even Dortmund didn’t endanger Ederson’s goal with their relief attacks.
Reus misses the lead
Those who had expected the hosts to attack in the second round were disappointed. Instead, BVB became bolder on the counterattack. Reus had a great chance to take the lead when he let his former teammate Manuel Akanji get out perfectly, but then put the ball just wide of the goal (52′). Akanji only switched to City shortly before the end of the transfer period and verbally attacked BVB again.
If Reus was still very unlucky with his huge chance, the national player was decisive for the opening goal shortly afterwards. Bellingham deflected his shot with a header into Ederson’s goal. Significantly, Haaland and Akanji had let the Englishman escape. At the other end, it wasn’t until the 66th minute that the Norwegian got his first chance to score, when he put the ball on the outside of the post from a tight angle.
But it was the wake-up call for the hosts, who became more precise in their actions. However, BVB keeper Meyer did not cut a good figure when Stones equalized. And just minutes later, Haaland still came to his performance. After a Joao Cancelo cross, the Norwegian was there from close range.
