bundesliga

Supersub Erling Haaland strikes again as Borussia Dortmund outclass Cologne

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Erling Haaland became the first Bundesliga player to score five goals in his first two outings as he netted a second-half brace for Borussia Dortmund on Friday, with earlier goals from Raphael Guerreiro, Marco Reus and Jadon Sancho helping BVB put an end to Cologne's four-game winning streak.

Borussia Dortmund 5-1 Cologne
Goals: 1-0 Guerreiro (1'), 2-0 Reus (29'), 3-0 Sancho (48'), 3-1 Uth (64'), 4-1 Haaland (77'), 5-1 Haaland (87')

The hosts got off to a perfect start, as Guerreiro swept them into the lead with just over a minute on the clock. Mats Hummels was at the origin, with his long ball forward collected by Reus and fed out to Sancho, who teed up Guerreiro for BVB's quickest goal of the campaign. Reus then tested Timo Horn with a free-kick from the edge of the area – originally a penalty, until VAR intervened – before Hummels crashed a header off the bar from the resulting corner. A rather timid Cologne had half-chances through Jan Thielmann and Mark Uth, but Reus soon doubled Dortmund's advantage after another wonderful long ball over the top from Hummels. The goal was first ruled out for offside, but a VAR review showed the BVB captain had stayed onside before poking through Horn's legs for 2-0. Lucien Favre's men threatened to run riot when Guerreiro found Thorgan Hazard in acres of space shortly before half-time, but Horn made a brilliant one-on-one save to keep the scoreline respectable heading in at the break.

Fresh from a brace against Wolfsburg last week, Jhon Cordoba could have pulled one back for Cologne just after the restart, but hit the post following a mistake from Hummels. The visitors were quickly made to pay, as Sancho rifled high into the roof of the net for 3-0. Achraf Hakimi then whistled an effort inches wide after a sweeping BVB counter, before Roman Bürki made an impressive reflex save at the other end to deny Uth. The Schalke loanee gave Cologne a glimmer of hope as he fired in his first goal of the campaign midway through the half, and Jonas Hector could have set up a nervy finish if he had steered a close-range header on target. Instead, after his hat-trick heroics last week, Haaland came off the bench to score his fourth goal in Dortmund colours, turning in the rebound when Horn saved from Guerreiro. The hosts had chances to add gloss to the scoreline through Sancho and Hakimi, but it was once again the 19-year-old Norwegian who had the final word, slotting in delightfully from a tight angle to ensure that he would once again take all the headlines.

Watch: All FIVE of Haaland's goals for Dortmund so far!

Match stats

  • Haaland is the first player in Bundesliga history to hit five goals in his first two outings. The Norwegian sensation has only spent 59 minutes on the pitch, meaning he is averaging a goal every 12 minutes.
  • Guerreiro's opener was Dortmund's quickest of the season, and the fourth-fastest in the Bundesliga. The earliest strike this term came courtesy of Augsburg's Marco Richter, who was on target after 28 seconds against Bayern Munich on Matchday 8.
  • It was the Portugal international's third goal of the campaign. His two previous strikes came in home wins over Bayer Leverkusen (4-0) and Wolfsburg (3-0).
  • Reus is now joint 26th in the all-time Bundesliga scoring charts with 126 goals. He is level with two-time Torjägerkanone winner Martin Max, the father of Augsburg defender Philipp.
  • Sancho has now netted eight goals in his last eight Bundesliga appearances. The England winger has scored 11 and provided 11 assists this term.
  • Uth opened his account for Cologne following his January switch from Schalke, ending a run of 16 Bundesliga games without a goal.

Line-ups

Dortmund: Bürki – Piszczek, Hummels, Akanji – Hakimi, Witsel, Brandt, Guerreiro – Sancho (Reyna 88'), Reus (c) (Dahoud 80'), Hazard (Haaland 65')
Unused subs: Hitz, Alcacer, Götze, Schulz, Balerdi, Morey
Out: Delaney (knee), Zagadou (torn muscle)
Coach: Lucien Favre

Cologne: Horn – Ehizibue (Modeste 74'), Bornauw, Czichos, Katterbach – Skhiri, Hector (c) – Thielmann (Kainz 46'), Uth (Rexhbecaj 80'), Jakobs – Cordoba
Unused subs: Kessler, Schmitz, Risse, Terodde, Mere, Drexler
Out: Clemens (knee), Sobiech (muscular)
Coach: Markus Gisdol

Watch: Sancho: "Haaland disappointed with only two goals!"