Tag: Erling Haaland

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HAALAND, SANCHO BAGS BRACE AS DORTMUND WINS GERMAN CUP FINAL

Jadon Sancho and Erling Braut Haaland both netted twice Thursday as Borussia Dortmund won the German Cup with an emphatic 4-1 win over RB Leipzig to spoil Julian Nagelsmann’s hopes of leaving with a title.

Dortmund turned on the style at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, converting all of their three first-half shots on target to sweep Leipzig aside as Sancho netted twice either side of a superb Haaland goal.

“I am very happy that I could score two goals and set up one for Haaland,” Sancho told ARD.

The England winger could have claimed a hat-trick late on after rounding Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi, but failed to get his shot away.

“I don’t know what happened, I am sure I am going to look back on this game and regret not getting my hat-trick,” Sancho admitted.

“Next time I will shoot first – sorry Dortmund fans.”

Spain midfielder Dani Olmo pulled a goal back for Leipzig, before Haaland grabbed his second in the dying stages despite slipping as he connected.

Dortmund lifted the German Cup for the fifth time in the club’s history.

“It’s unbelievable, I am proud of the morale the team has shown in the last few weeks,” said captain Marco Reus as Dortmund have also recently got back into the Bundesliga’s Champions League places.

Defeat in Berlin dashed Nagelsmann’s hopes of winning the first senior title of his coaching career before leaving after two years coaching RB Leipzig to take the helm at Bayern Munich next season.

RB Leipzig, who were only founded in 2009, are also waiting for a first major title having also lost the 2019 German Cup final to Bayern.

“I’m proud of the team, but it’s not good to lose a final,” admitted Nagelsmann.

“We were a bit too passive in our own box and we had to much to do at 3-0 down.”

Haaland returned to the Dortmund line-up after a leg injury kept him out of the two previous games, including Saturday’s 3-2 home win over Leipzig in a dress rehearsal for the final.

Sancho, who also scored twice on Saturday, put Dortmund ahead with just five minutes gone.

After Dortmund captain Marco Reus robbed Kevin Kampl of possession, the ball was worked to the edge of the area, where Sancho curled his shot around Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi.

Dortmund converted their second shot on goal when Haaland made it 2-0 on 28 minutes.

He sprinted onto Reus’ pass, beat Leipzig centre-back Dayot Upamecano, who will follow Nagelsmann to Bayern next season, and curled his shot around Gulacsi.

It took Leipzig until seven minutes before half-time to create a clear chance when Haaland’s Norway team-mate Alexander Sorloth fired into the side netting.

Sancho grabbed his second just before the half-time whistle when he tapped into an empty net from Reus’ pass after Dortmund opened Leipzig’s defence before the VAR confirmed there was no offside.

Leipzig were much improved in the second-half.

With his side 3-0 down at half-time, Nagelsmann swapped both forwards with Sorloth and South Korea’s Hwang Hee-chan for Yussuf Poulsen and Christopher Nkunku, who made an immediate impact.

Just 25 seconds after the break, Nkunku’s chip clipped Dortmund’s crossbar from Amadou Haidara’s cross while Poulsen fired two chances wide.

At the other end, Thorgan Hazard, a half-time replacement for Jude Bellingham, squandered a chance to make it 4-0 with the goal at his mercy with an hour gone.

Olmo pulled a goal back on 71 minutes when he slotted home from the edge of the area.

Sancho squandered a late chance to claim his hat-trick when he waited a fraction too long after rounding Gulacsi and scuffed his shot before Haaland netted his second to send the title to Dortmund.

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LAST GASP HAALAND STRIKE GIVES DORTMUND DRAW AT COLOGNE

Erling Haaland scored a late equaliser to earn Borussia Dortmund a 2-2 draw against Cologne in the Bundesliga before furiously heading straight down the tunnel at the final whistle on Saturday.

The result saw fifth-placed Dortmund lose further ground in the hunt for a top-four finish and Champions League football next season. They have 43 points from 26 games, four less than Eintracht Frankfurt in fourth who celebrated a 5-2 home win over Union Berlin

Haaland posted a message on Twitter an hour after the final whistle. He said: “Not a great result. We will use this as motivation to be back stronger! Thanks to all the @BVB fans for your continued support. We’ll be back soon!”

Dortmund goalkeeper Marwin Hitz was disappointed with the outcome as the visitors allowed Cologne to turn the match on its head after Haaland struck a superb third-minute opener.

“We started really well and scored a nice first goal but then we disappeared,” Hitz said.

“We sat back and lost possession too many times so it was definitely not a good afternoon for us. It’s inexplicable that we made so many mistakes as we really needed to win this game.”

Left-back Nico Shultz added: “We got too passive after taking the lead and we let Cologne back into the game. We needed to move the ball a lot better and we also weren’t active enough defensively.”

Haaland gave Dortmund a third-minute lead with a sublime finish as he took a long Emre Can ball in his stride and held off Jorge Mere’s challenge before he steered a low shot through the legs of goalkeeper Timo Horn.

Ondrej Duda levelled with a 35th-minute penalty as Noah Katterbach’s shot hit Jude Bellingham in the arm, with the spot kick given after a delayed VAR check.

With Dortmund rattled, Ismail Jacobs turned the tide as he capped a fast break with an unstoppable shot from 15 metres in the 65th minute before Haaland hit the post at the other end.

Just when it seemed Cologne would complete the league double over Dortmund having beaten them 2-1 in the reverse fixture, Haaland popped up in front of goal to bundle in a 90th-minute assist by Ansgar Knauff.

Cologne stayed 14th on 23 points, two above the relegation spots.

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HAALAND BRACE HELP DORTMUND DUMP SEVILLA TO REACH UCL QUARTER FINALS

Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland struck in each half as they advanced to the Champions League quarter-finals after a 2-2 draw with Sevilla in their last-16 second leg on Tuesday to complete a 5-4 aggregate win.

The Norwegian notched his 20th Champions League goal in 14 games — and 10th in the competition this season — with a controversial 54th-minute penalty after having tapped in a Marco Reus cutback against the run of play to give Dortmund the lead in the first half.

Sevilla, who made the quarter-finals in 2018 and enjoyed a strong first half, hit back with two goals from Youssef En-Nesyri in the second half, the first a 66th-minute penalty followed by a stoppage-time header to make it 2-2.

Sevilla’s second goal set up a frantic finish, but Dortmund held on to edge through after their 3-2 win in the first leg last month.

The 20-year-old Haaland has become Norway’s all-time top scorer in the competition, with one more goal than current Manchester United coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, as Dortmund reached the last eight for the first time since 2017.

Sevilla, who arrived in Dortmund on the back of three straight defeats, dictated proceedings from the start and had a good effort by Lucas Ocampos early on.

Without injured Jadon Sancho, Dortmund, who lost to Bayern Munich in the league on Saturday, hardly got a look in until Haaland struck with their first chance of the game in the 35th minute.

The Norwegian put the ball in the net five minutes after the restart with a superb effort, but in an extraordinary VAR review, the referee Cuneyt Cakir first disallowed the goal for a foul by Haaland and then awarded Dortmund a penalty for a shirt-pull on the striker minutes earlier.

Keeper Yassine Bounou saved Haaland’s spot kick as well as his thundering rebound but the referee ordered it to be retaken after he said the keeper had moved off the line.

Haaland slotted in on his second attempt to take his goal tally in the competition this season to an impressive 10 goals in his six games.

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Bayern Confirm Interest In Dortmund Striker Haaland

Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich confirmed their interest in Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland as manager Hansi Flick admitted a transfer is ‘very much possible’.

Haaland has emerged as one of the hottest commodities in Europe, and put it on full display against Bayern at the weekend.

The Norwegian international scored twice in nine minutes to stun Bayern into an early deficit.

Bayern manager Flick was asked about Haaland one day replacing Lewandowski, with a deal far from out the picture.

He told Sky Germany before the game: “Very, very much is possible in life, nothing can be ruled out.

“But that is a long way off. He has a long-term contract in Dortmund and is an option for many top clubs.”

Bayern prized Lewandowski away from their rivals in 2014, having also done the same with Mario Gotze and Mats Hummels.

But Gotze and Hummels both ended up returning to Dortmund.

Bayern are not the only ones interested in 20-year-old Haaland, who improved to 19 goals in as many Bundesliga games.

Manchester United last season failed in a move for the forward, despite Ole Gunnar Solskjaer meeting with the player.

And now United are joined by City and Chelsea in the pursuit for the serial goalscorer.

Real Madrid are also linked with Haaland, with the view of replacing frontman Karim Benzema, 34.

Haaland’s contract expires in 2024, but a £65million release clause is understood to come into play two years beforehand.

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HAALAND DAZZLES AS DORTMUND BEAT SEVILLA IN UCL ROUND OF 16

Haaland produced another deadly display of finishing with a first-half brace as Dortmund came from behind to beat Sevilla 3-2 in Spain in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

Suso’s deflected strike gave last season’s Europa League winners an early lead behind closed doors at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium, but Mahmoud Dahoud soon equalised before Haaland took over.

The Norway phenomenon put Dortmund in front in the 27th minute and then scored again two minutes before half-time, the goals taking him to 25 in 24 appearances this season in all competitions.

Still aged just 20, he has scored 18 times in just 13 Champions League appearances since the start of last season.

Substitute Luuk de Jong’s late reply gave Sevilla cause for hope heading into the return leg on March 9, but Dortmund remain favourites to progress to the quarter-finals.

“We didn’t deserve to lose, but in the end they had one of the best players in the world up front and he made the difference in three situations which could have been avoided,” said Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui.

Haaland, who also set up Dahoud’s equaliser, produced a performance, in the first half at least, which showcased his remarkable strength, hold-up play and pace as well as his brilliant finishing.

It was too much for a Sevilla side who had come into this tie with high hopes, having only been beaten by La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid, away, in their previous 19 outings.

Lopetegui’s team had won their previous nine matches on the bounce and had kept seven straight clean sheets before the arrival of Dortmund and Haaland.

“This was one of our best performances of the season,” Dortmund coach Edin Terzic, who replaced the sacked Lucien Favre after the group phase, told Sky.

“We are pleased with the result and proud to have beaten such a team.”

Sevilla have won the Europa League or its predecessor, the UEFA Cup, an incredible six times since 2005, but only once have they got past the last 16 of the Champions League, when they beat Manchester United in 2018 before losing to Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals.

The quality of Haaland was the difference here as Dortmund, having sunk to sixth in the Bundesliga on a poor run of form, came to life on their return to the Champions League.

“We had a good plan. Edin has been good and I’ve been talking a lot with him. He said today would be my game and that I would get my chances and I did, so it was an important win,” Haaland told news men.

Yet the game had started well for Sevilla, with Suso opening the scoring in the seventh minute, his shot deflecting in off Mats Hummels.

Dortmund drew level in the 19th minute as Haaland showed terrific strength to hold the ball up on the right before coming infield and feeding Dahoud, who worked his way into position to fire a superb shot high into net from just outside the area.

It was the first goal Sevilla had conceded in more than 12 hours of football.

Eight minutes later they conceded again.

Haaland dropped deep, collecting possession near the halfway line, and then turned and charged towards goal, playing a pass to Jadon Sancho on the edge of the box and then continuing on to place the return ball past goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.

He struck again two minutes before half-time, slotting home first-time after Marco Reus had stolen the ball from the feet of Alejandro ‘Papu’ Gomez before bearing down on goal.

However, Sevilla dominated the second half as Dortmund sat back, and the hosts got a potentially crucial second goal six minutes from the end.

Oscar Rodriguez’s high, hanging free-kick was turned into the net by De Jong, giving them something to cling to.

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HAALAND AND SANCHO LEAD DORTMUND TO 3-1 VICTORY AT LEIPZIG.

Borussia Dortmund scored three times in the second half with two goals from Erling Haaland and one from Jadon Sancho, to beat hosts RB Leipzig 3-1 on Saturday and close the gap to the top spots in the Bundesliga.

After a toothless first half Dortmund improved after the break, taking the lead when Halaand charged down the wing and Marco Reus flicked his cross on for Sancho to fire in.

The England international has now scored for the second consecutive game after failing to find the back of the net in the first 13 league matches of the campaign.

The visitors came close to a second goal in the 65th minute but Haaland’s powerful shot was tipped onto the crossbar by keeper Peter Gulacsi.

Leipzig, who had kept a clean sheet in their previous four league games, responded with a chance of their own two minutes later as Dani Olmo hit the post with his shot.

But Haaland got onto the score sheet, heading in a Sancho cross at the far post after launching the move himself in the 72nd minute.

The Norway international grabbed a second goal six minutes from the end when he was sent through by Reus to round Gulacsi before Leipzig scored in the 90th minute with Alexander Sorloth.

Dortmund are fourth in the standings on 28 points, five off leaders Bayern Munich, who lost 3-2 at Borussia Monchengladbach on Friday. Leipzig, who suffered their first home loss of the season, are in second place on 31.

“Everyone knows that today this was an extremely important game for us,” Dortmund’s Emre Can said, who came on after half an hour for the injured Axel Witsel.

“It was a game that would tell us which way our season will be going. It was decisive to win it.

“The last few weeks have not been easy. Now we want to launch our attack.”

Dortmund had won only one of their last five games of 2020 before December’s two-week winter break.

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HAALAND’S DOUBLE HELP DORTMUND SECURE HUGE AWAY WIN AGAINST LEIPZIG.

Borrusia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland gave an unpleasant visit to Leipzig as the Norwegian netted twice to help the yellows claim the second spot on the log. Bundesliga’s most prolific scorers went head-to-head in the game as Timo Werner’s RB Leipzig went almost unnoticed.

Werner, who is playing his final two matches for Leipzig before joining Chelsea, drew blank but the Norwegian prodigy Haaland scored in either half to help Dortmund to a 2-0 away victory which secures second place in the standings behind Bayern.

The 19-year-old Haaland, who has also been linked with a number of Europe’s biggest clubs, has scored 13 goals in 14 games since joining Dortmund from RB Salzburg last December.

Werner stays on 26 for the season in the Bundesliga, second only to Lewandowski.

Consolation for Leipzig, which is through to the last eight of the Champions League, was the 2-0 defeat for Bayer Leverkusen at Hertha Berlin.

It has left Leverkusen three points adrift of Leipzig in the battle for automatic qualifying spots for next season’s Champions League with just one round remaining and a vastly inferior goal difference.