If anyone thought Erling Braut Haaland’s move to Borussia Dortmund would signal a tempering of his goalscoring exploits, the Norwegian proved them emphatically wrong on Saturday with a stunning 23-minute debut hat-trick.
The 19-year-old joined Dortmund for £17.1m last month, after netting 28 goals in 22 appearances for Red Bull Salzburg this season – a tally that included five hat-tricks.
He made that six courtesy of the perfect introduction to his new club and league.
Having come off the bench on 56 minutes, with Dortmund trailing 3-1, he scored just three minutes later, before England winger Jadon Sancho levelled the match at 3-3.
Haaland then put Dortmund ahead for the first time with 18 minutes left when he tapped home after Thorgan Hazard got in behind the Augsburg defence and completed his treble when captain Marco Reus played him into the area, slamming the ball home to make it 5-3.
“I am pretty relaxed about it, I don’t really know why,” the son of former Leeds, Nottingham Forest and Manchester City player Alf-Inge Haaland told reporters after his stunning Bundesliga bow.
“I’m at a fantastic club with great team-mates and good people around me. I came here to score goals and it was a good debut for me.”
Haaland, who had been a reported transfer target for Juventus and Manchester United, scored eight goals in this season’s Champions League group stage, the second most in the competition.
Augsburg had led 2-0 through goals from Florian Niederlechner and Marco Richter.
After Julian Brandt pulled one back for Dortmund, Niederlechner scored his second on 55 minutes before Haaland’s introduction.
Victory in the first game back after the winter break lifts Dortmund to fourth in the Bundesliga.
Leaders RB Leipzig extended their advantage to five points with a 3-1 victory against Union Berlin, after second placed Borussia Monchengladbach lost 2-0 to Schalke on Friday.
Not a proper hat-trick?!
Analysis
Dortmund have been playing without that kind of a striker for a couple of years now. One of the reasons supporters and people within the club have given for the lack of success – not winning a trophy – is perhaps the lack of a goalscorer, a number nine that they’ve not had since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left.
He changes the dynamic. Suddenly you have someone making the runs into the box, going into the channels. You don’t have all these false nines circulating around the box.
He made such a big difference and now it is going to be impossible for Lucien Favre to keep him out of the team.
In Germany, for some reason, we don’t consider this a proper hat-trick. It needs to be in one half but also nobody scoring in between. We are so German we don’t consider it a hat-trick.
Haaland doesn’t care. I saw him going off with the match ball. He’ll consider it a hat-trick but somebody has to then tell him ‘actually, you know what, it’s not officially a hat-trick’. I don’t think it’s an issue for him to worry about.
Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers:
1. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will officially flag-off its presidential campaign for the 2023 elections in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, on Monday. It was gathered that all arrangements have been concluded and party bigwigs, including the Presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, have arrived in Uyo, the State capital.
2. President Muhammadu Buhari will on Monday, October 10, 2022, attend the investiture ceremony of Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno as President of the Transitional Team in Republic of Chad for two years. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, announced this in a statement issued on Sunday.
3. The All Progressives Congress (APC) is set to release the revised edition of its campaign council list this week in a bid to bring to an end the crisis engulfing the party and delaying the kick-off of its campaign. This is as the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of the party has sough the financial support of its National Working Committee (NWC) for its candidate, Bola Tinubu.
4. Residents of Amutenyi village in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State were plunged into mourning weekend when the lifeless bodies of five family members were found in an apartment in the Obollo-Afor community. The State police command has commenced an investigation to unravel the mystery behind the unnatural deaths.
5. Two suspected internet fraudsters, otherwise known as Yahoo boys, have confessed to the police how they kidnapped a 40-year-old man and killed him for a money-making ritual. Police Public Relations Officer in Ogun, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the suspects told the police that the victim Abdullahi Azeez, was dismembered after they took his life.
6. Former Deputy Governor to the immediate past Governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun, Yetunde Onanuga, has joined the incumbent Governor Dapo Abiodun’s camp of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State. Onanuga was said to have also pledged her support for the second-term ambition of the Abiodun administration.
7. The National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has notified healthcare providers and the public of the death of 66 children in the Gambia following the use of four substandard cough syrups as reported by WHO in September 2022. According to the agency, the four products are Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup.
8. Eleven persons died, while six others sustained injuries in two separate accidents in Plateau and Niger States, over the weekend. In Jos, eight persons lost their lives and two others got injured in a road crash involving a Toyota Hiace bus and a Honda Pilot SUV along Lamingo road in Jos, Plateau State.
9. The Coordinator of the Tinubu/Shettima Support Group for the North-East, Tijani Tumsah yesterday, has said that the All Progressive Congress presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has the autonomy to decide which events he will attend. Tumsah who said this while speaking on a TV political show, lamented attacks on Tinubu for being absent in some political functions recently.
10. Police operatives from the Kwara State command on Sunday said they arrested three suspects who allegedly robbed and raped some female students of the Kwara State University, Malete, in the Moro Local Government Area of Kwara State. The suspects are Ridwan Abdulfatai (20); Ibrahim Akorede (25) and Aliyu Apalado (25), all from the Oke Fomo area, Ilorin.
Karim Benzema scored the only goal of the game as Real Madrid extended their lead at the top of La Liga to seven points by beating Athletic Bilbao.
The France international scored his 17th goal of the season when he diverted home Luka Modric’s wayward shot five minutes before half-time.
The visitors pressed late on but were unable to find an equaliser and remain eighth, without a win in six games.
Victory extended Real’s advantage over defending champions Atletico Madrid.
And Carlo Ancelotti’s side were dominant for long periods, having 62% possession and 17 shots on goal.
They made the breakthrough when Benzema turned home from 10 yards for his 12th league goal of the season after Modric skewed a shot into his path when Unai Simon parried Marco Asensio’s effort.
Benzema has now scored 35 goals in 46 games in all competitions for Real in 2021, equalling his best goalscoring tally in a single calendar year for the club in 2019.
Mikel Vesga was twice denied by good Real blocks, while Yeray and Oier Zarraga both failed to hit the target with late efforts.
Vinicius Junior scored a stunning late winner as Real Madrid came from behind to beat Sevilla at the Bernabeu and move four points clear at the top of La Liga.
Rafa Mir headed the visitors into an early lead before Karim Benzema levelled with a tap-in.
Vinicius completed Real’s comeback when he cut inside and found the top corner with a brilliant right-footed shot.
It was Real’s sixth win in a row in all competitions.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side were stung into action when Mir planted a header past Thibaut Courtois in the 12th minute.
The hosts hit back through Benzema, who was left with an easy finish after Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bounou could only push Eder Militao’s long-range effort onto the post.
After Vinicius’ goal, Courtois made a vital stoppage-time save to keep out Thomas Delaney’s header.
Real are now four points clear of rivals Atletico Madrid, who thumped Cadiz 4-1 earlier on Sunday with Thomas Lemar, Antoine Griezmann, Angel Correa and Matheus Cunha on target for Diego Simeone’s side, and also Real Sociedad.
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