Stunning Felix Nmecha brace extends Borussia Dortmund’s unbeaten start after victory against Elversberg
Felix Nmecha’s second-half brace secured Borussia Dortmund a 2-1 victory over Elversberg, extending their unbeaten start to the Bundesliga season to nine games.
Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Elversberg
Goals: 1-0 Nmecha 55’ (assist: Silva), 2-0 Nmecha 71’, 2-1 Futkeu 81’ (assist: Le Joncour)
Niko Kovač made three changes to the Dortmund side that beat Real Betis 2-1 in the UEFA Champions League, bringing in Joane Gadou, Carney Chukwuemeka and Konstantinos Karetsas for Ramy Bensebaini, Julian Ryerson and the injured Serhou Guirassy.
Elversberg head coach Vincent Wagner named the same team that beat Mainz 4-1 at home on Matchday 8, with Maurice Krattenmacher, Francis Onyeka and Lukas Petkov supporting David Mokwa in attack.
Goalless but even first half
Elversberg refused to sit back and matched Dortmund for long periods. Fabio Silva curled a long-range effort into the side netting after a quick break, while Nmecha forced a save from Nicolas Kristof before Silva narrowly failed to turn in the rebound.
At the other end, Petkov twice tested Gregor Kobel, once from distance and once with a low drive in first-half stoppage time.
Carney Chukwuemeka had to be withdrawn with an injury on 34 minutes and was replaced by Maximilian Beier, while Elversberg's captain Lukas Pinckert was also forced off after a knock, with Florian Le Joncour coming on as the teams went into the break on level terms.
Nmecha breaks deadlock
Dortmund continued to press after the restart, with Jobe Bellingham and Karetsas both denied by Kristof. The breakthrough arrived in the 55th minute through Silva, who collected a diagonal ball, held it up and laid it back for Nmecha. Dortmund's No.8 took one touch before placing a low effort into the bottom corner.
Sixteen minutes later Nmecha struck again, firing home a sumptuous curling effort from outside the box to double BVB's lead.
Futkeu's bicycle kick sets up tense finale
With 81 minutes on the clock, substitute Noel Futkeu halved the deficit in spectacular fashion, meeting a cushioned header from Le Joncour with an overhead kick that flew into the bottom corner, leaving Kobel with no chance.
Dortmund withstood further late pressure, including efforts from Raïf Adam and Petkov, but held on to see out a 2-1 win as Kovač's charges maintained their unbeaten start to the Bundesliga campaign.
Man of the Match: Felix Nmecha
Nmecha registered five shots, the most of any player on the pitch, and scored both of Dortmund's goals, the second of which generated a shot speed of 124.22 km/h - the second-hardest-struck goal this season.
He was named Man of the Match with 78 percent of the vote.
Bundesliga Match Facts
xGoals: Dortmund 1.12 - Elversberg 1.38
Fastest player: Joane Gadou (Dortmund), 35.61 km/h
Lowest goal probability: 2-0 by Felix Nmecha (Dortmund), 4 percent
Pass efficiency: Joey Veerman (Dortmund), +5.52
Fantasy Heroes: Felix Nmecha (Dortmund, 404 Points), Lukas Petkov (Elversberg, 211 Points), Konstantinos Karetsas (Dortmund, 156 Points)
