Madrid: Erling Haaland’s remarkable UEFA Champions League scoring record helped Borussia Dortmund to a comeback victory at Sevilla as the German club took a significant step towards a first quarter-final in four years.
With it Borussia Dortmund took a big step towards the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League with a 3-2 win away to Sevilla in the first leg of their round of 16 tie on Wednesday night.
Striker Erling Braut Haaland enhanced his burgeoning reputation with two first-half goals in the 26th and 42nd minutes of the game as Dortmund fought back from an early strike by Sevilla forward Suso, Xinhua news reports.
Sevilla went into the game in excellent form, fresh from beating FC Barcelona 1-0 in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal and without having conceded a goal in their last seven matches.
That wave of confidence only increased after seven minutes when Suso controled the ball on the edge of the area, turned his marker and beat Marvin Hitz with his finish.
Sevilla’s lead lasted just 12 minutes, before Mahmoud Dahoud took a pass in the Sevilla half before advancing and beating Bono with a shot into the top of the net. It was the first goal Bono had conceded in over 720 minutes of football, and it wouldn’t be the last.
The Haaland show began in the 27th minute after the powerful forward collected the ball in the middle of the park. He exchanged passes with Jadon Sancho before beating the defense and then sliding the ball past Bono.
The Norwegian drew a brilliant save from Bono just after his goal, but there was nothing the Sevilla keeper could do to prevent Haaland making it 3-1 before the break. Papu Gomez lost the ball in the Sevilla half to Marco Reus, who gave a perfect pass for the striker to make it 3-1.
With Dortmund controlling the second half, Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui made three changes with Luuk de Jong, Munir and Oscar Torres all coming into the game.
De Jong pulled a goal back for the home side six minutes from time from Oscar’s free-kick, giving the Spanish side a chance in the second leg, although they will need to score twice in Germany to stand any chance of going through.
–IANS
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