Borussia Dortmund secure second place after Erling Haaland's brace at RB Leipzig
Erling Haaland scored his 13th goal in 14 Bundesliga games to secure second place in the table for Borussia Dortmund ahead of RB Leipzig, with Gio Reyna claiming an assist in his first start in the top-flight.
RB Leipzig 0-2 Borussia Dortmund
Goals: 0-1 Haaland (30'), 0-2 Haaland (90'+3)
Knowing a win would ensure they finish behind champions Bayern Munich and ahead of their third-placed hosts, Dortmund came flying out of the blocks. In a vastly improved team performance from the one which saw them suffer defeat at home to Mainz in midweek, Lucien Favre’s side consistently played their way through the Leipzig backline. Haaland forced a number of saves from Peter Gulacsi and had a goalbound shot blocked by a teammate all inside the opening 15 minutes. Mats Hummels sent a perfect outside-of-the-foot pass to Thorgan Hazard but the Belgian forward also found Gulacsi in his way. But Hummels started the move which led to Dortmund deservedly going ahead. Julian Brandt was sent down the right and he found Reyna in the box, with the American teenager showing vision and composure in his first Bundesliga start to pick out Haaland in front of goal, and the Dortmund striker duly slotted home. Leipzig captain Marcel Sabitzer went off injured before the break after taking a knock to his knee under a challenge from Haaland, and Timo Werner only forced the first save of the day from Roman Bürki in the final minutes of a half dominated by Dortmund.
Dortmund picked up where they left off at the start of the second half and almost immediately went two goals ahead. Haaland played the ball across goal for Mateu Morey, but the Spanish full-back sliced his effort wide of goal from close range. Haaland then struck the crossbar with Gulacsi making an outstanding save to keep it out. Leipzig began to get on the ball more midway through the second period but struggled to find a way through Dortmund's well-structured defence, with Bürki untested in the second half until the final five minutes where he saved Angelino's attempted lob from inside the Dortmund box. To put the icing on the cake, Haaland found the net for the second time from Brandt's assist to seal the win and second place for Dortmund.
Match stats
- Dortmund are unbeaten in their last five meetings with Leipzig (W3, D2).
- Reyna and Morey made their first starts for Dortmund in the Bundesliga.
- Dortmund have now scored 83 goals in the Bundesliga this season, a new club record in the German top-flight.
- Julian Nagelsmann has won only one of nine meetings with Dortmund.
- Only Bayern's Robert Lewandowski (33 goals, three assists) has had a direct hand in as many Bundesliga goals this season as Leipzig top scorer Werner (26 goals, eight assists). Dortmund counterpart Jadon Sancho is one behind (17 goals, 16 assists).
- Haaland scored 29 goals in 27 competitive appearances for Leipzig's sister club, Salzburg. In his 14th Bundesliga game, Haaland scored his 12th and 13th goals.
Watch: Haaland on Reyna: "I called him the American dream"
Line-ups
Leipzig: Gulacsi – Klostermann (Adams 46'), Upamecano, Halstenberg - Mukiele, Sabitzer (c) (Olmo 39'), Kampl (Haidara 70'), Angelino – Forsberg (Konate 75'), Werner (Nkunku 70') - Schick
Unused subs: Mvogo, Tschauner, Orban, Krauß
Out: Ampadu (back), Laimer (illness), Poulsen (ankle), Wolf (ankle)
Coach: Julian Nagelsmann
Dortmund: Bürki - Piszczek (c), Hummels, Can - Morey (Sancho 78'), Witsel, Brandt, Guerreiro (Zagadou 90') - Reyna (Balerdi 81'), Haaland, Hazard (Schulz 90')
Unused subs: Unbehaun, Rente, Pherai, Führich, Raschl
Out: Akanji (muscular), Dahoud (knee), Delaney (muscular), Götze (personal reasons), Hakimi (suspended), Reus (groin)
Coach: Lucien Favre
Watch: Reyna: "We're all really happy"
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