Haaland haunts former club Dortmund

Agency :

Manchester City’s Erling Haaland came back to haunt Borussia Dortmund with a clinical finish against his former team, while Phil Foden bagged a brilliant brace as the hosts cruised to a 4-1 win in the Champions League on Wednesday to climb to fourth.

Pep Guardiola’s side have 10 points after four of the eight league-phase games, while Dortmund fell to 14th on seven points.

City, who hoisted the Champions League trophy in 2023, were dominant from the start at the Etihad Stadium.

“I like a lot of things that I see,” Guardiola said. “Ten points, we are fourth, we are better than we were last season by far. Huge compliment, huge respect for these players because we are in a good position.”

City’s England midfielder Foden opened the scoring in the 22nd minute when he collected a pass from Tijjani Reijnders and finished with a crisp left-foot strike from just outside the box past goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.

Haaland, who has 27 goals in 17 games for club and country, doubled the lead seven minutes later, finishing coolly from the center of the box after a blistering run and pinpoint assist from Jeremy Doku.

Foden completed his double in the 57th minute in almost identical fashion to his first, latching onto a pass from Reijnders before bending a curling shot just inside the far post, the first time he had scored more than once in a Champions League game.

“Happy it’s not just Erling scoring goals,” Guardiola said. “Phil was just fantastic.”
Waldemar Anton pulled one back for the Bundesliga club from a free kick in the 72nd to delight Dortmund’s travelling supporters who danced and sang all night.

However, City’s Rayan Cherki put the game well out of reach with a goal in injury time when he squeezed between two Dortmund defenders before firing home a low effort that took a deflection and spun beyond Kobel’s reach.

City thoroughly dominated with nine shots on target to Dortmund’s one, controlling the tempo and exploiting the flanks with pace and precision. Doku and Savinho were relentless, stretching Dortmund’s defense and creating space for City’s midfield to operate in.

Savinho narrowly missed what would have been a stunning strike in the second half with a blistering left-foot volley from a Foden pass that sailed narrowly over the bar.

“I think it was one goal too many, I think our team started the match well, we had control of the game at the beginning and then I think we handed the match to City,” Dortmund coach Niko Kovac said.

“They (City) played a very clean style of football and deserved to win.”
City’s goal machine Haaland extended his scoring streak in the Champions League to five successive outings – his best run in the competition since a spell of finding the net in six appearances in a row back in 2020/21.

He also became the first player in Champions League history to score in five consecutive games for three different clubs in City, Dortmund and Red Bull Salzburg.
“In terms of numbers Erling is unbelievable,” said Doku.
“Tonight he scored just one goal but he is so much more than goals and assists for us. He provides so much and is so important.”