Bundesliga: Dortmund young guns sparkle in opening win over Gladbach
Haaland scored a 54th minute penalty and bagged another with a sensationally quick counter-attack. Teenager Giovanni Reyna opened the scoring in the 35th minute.
Published : Sep 20, 2020 09:08 IST
Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland scored twice and teenager Giovanni Reyna added another goal as the side cruised past Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-0 in its season opener on Saturday.
The 20-year-old Haaland scored a 54th minute penalty, awarded for a foul on Reyna, and bagged another with a sensationally quick counter-attack and a Jadon Sancho assist as Dortmund utilised its fearsome youthful attacking weapons.
Norway forward Haaland, who joined in January, took his tally to 15 goals in his 16 Bundesliga games so far this year.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS |
A day after Bayern Munich opened its season with an 8-0 demolition of Schalke 04, Dortmund sent a warning to the title holder with its dominant performance over Gladbach, which will be competing in the Champions League this season.
Reyna opened the scoring in the 35th minute after combining perfectly with fellow 17-year-old Jude Bellingham, making his league debut after joining from Birmingham City.
Reyna's first league goal made him the second youngest American to score in the Bundesliga after former Dortmund winger Christian Pulisic, who is now at Chelsea.
Gladbach had a good early chance through Jonas Hofmann but struggled throughout with Dortmund’s speed, and not even the introduction of strikers Alassane Plea and Marcus Thuram could turn things around.
The host, playing in front of a crowd limited to 9,300 fans in their 80,000-capacity stadium due to COVID-19 restrictions, also hit the crossbar with a Sancho header. (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; editing by Ian Chadband and Ken Ferris)