Borussia Dortmund has three points left over on Saturday afternoon from the away game against TSG Hoffenheim. Won by goals from Erling Braut Haaland, Marco Reus and an own goal by David Raum BVB with 2-3; Donyell Malen did the preparatory work for all the visitors’ goals. The withdrawal of Haaland due to an injury was a stain on the victory. Dortmund are in second place in the Bundesliga, three points behind Bayern Munich and played one more game. Number three Bayer Leverkusen won thanks in part to assists from Mitchel Bakker and Jeremie Frimpong with no less than 5-1 from low-flying FC Augsburg.
TSG Hoffenheim – Borussia Dortmund 2-3
Malen had a basic place at BVB and showed himself in the sixth minute. The attacker combined in the penalty area with both Raphaël Guerreiro and Jude Bellingham, before giving a low cross to Haaland. Because Hoffenheim’s defense had been completely destroyed by the smooth combinations, Haaland was able to tap in undisturbed from close range. Hoffenheim then opened the hunt for the equalizer. A header by Georginio Rutter was tapped against the post by goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, after which Chris Richards headed into the crossbar from a corner. In the injury time of the first half, Hoffenheim still managed to come alongside.
Who else but Erling Haaland??
An assist from Donyell Malen for Dortmund’s 1-0 ??#ZiggoSport #Bundesliga #TSCFSP pic.twitter.com/NmcGwTXUVl— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) January 22, 2022
After a pass from Ihlas Bebou, the detached Andrej Kramaric suddenly took the ball out of the air and found the right corner. After just under an hour, however, Malen gave his second assist of the afternoon, this time to Reus. The Dutchman initially combined beautifully with Haaland, before sending a through ball that allowed Reus to finish in a one-on-one situation. Dortmund suffered a setback when Haaland dropped out due to a groin injury, but came through an own goal from Raum, after a low cross from Malen, to make it 1-3. Rutter brought the tension back with the 2-3 when he came face to face with keeper Kobel, but that was it despite a big chance for Sebastian Rudy.
Dortmund back on??
Donyell Malen gives his second assist of the game, this time the ball went to Marco Reus who made it 2-1 ??#ZiggoSport #Bundesliga #TSCFSP pic.twitter.com/dCRBfjRmt0— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) January 22, 2022
Bayer Leverkusen – FC Augsburg 5-1
Also at Leverkusen, a Dutchman gave the assist on the opening goal. Bakker went one-two on the left with Moussa Diaby and gave a low cross to Karim Bellarabi, who rounded off at the far post with a counter shot. Diaby doubled the margin midway through the first half from within the penalty area after preparatory work by Amine Adli. Goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz then kept Augsburg in the race with some great saves. The visitors came back to 2-1 via a rebound from Arne Maier, but shortly afterwards Diaby was in the right place to make it 3-1.
Leverkusen’s hunger was not yet sated. More than twenty minutes before the end, the home team extended the lead to 4-1. Diaby completed his hat-trick with a hard, diagonal shot into the right corner. The preparatory work this time came from the other Dutch fullback: Frimpong steamed up through the axis of the field and enabled Diaby to lash out. Shortly after Timothy Fosu-Mensah made his appearance as a substitute, fellow substitute Lucas Alario even put the 5-1 on the scoreboard. Jeffrey Gouweleeuw was on the field at Augsburg as captain for ninety minutes.