Updated on September 28, 2021, 11:40 pm
- Without the Erling Haaland goal machine, everything is a bit more cumbersome at BVB.
- But it’s enough for Sporting Lisbon, also because Malen, 30 million newcomer, is wearing the BVB jersey for the first time.
- This means that Dortmund is well on its way to the last sixteen.
It works without it Erling Haaland. Donyell Malen hat Borussia Dortmund gave 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 some unfortunate actions, the Dutchman Malen skilfully pushed the ball, which was well worth seeing, 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.
Hummels: “Everything wasn’t perfect, but the attitude was right”
“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 kick-off at Amazon Prime. First uncertainties of Mats Hummels (21./22.) Made this difficult.
In any case, the question of who was against that was more exciting Ajax at the 1: 5 by all the rules of the art, the Sporting bulwark should crack. 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.
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. The inspiration was missing, 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.
Lisbon has to fight mightily to stay in the game
Reus stood at his goal (48th) half a meter offside, otherwise it could have been a quiet second half for Dortmund. BVB then pushed resolutely 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. (ash / dpa / afp)
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