Haaland enjoying incredible start to the season with Dortmund

Stefan Bienkowski

• Updated: 11 Sept 2021 16:34 BST
• 4 min read

Erling Haaland showed no signs of frustration on Saturday when his Borussia Dortmund side came from behind to claim a famous victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.

Leverkusen under new head coach Gerardo Seoane have been in red-hot form in the start to the league campaign, having claimed two wins and a draw in their first three games prior to Saturday’s test.

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And when young star Florian Wirtz tucked the ball into the back of the net after just nine minutes it looked as though Dortmund may have their work cut out for them.

However, as is often the came with Dortmund these days, Haaland was determined to drag his team back into the match and he did that tremendously when he leaped into the air in the 37th minute and calmly headed home a Thomas Meunier cross to equal the scoring.

Before fans could even finish admiring the player’s Ronaldo-esque leap, the Norwegian striker did it again from another cross to knock the ball into the path of Jude Bellingham, who then headed the ball into the back of the net to make it two for Dortmund. However, VAR then ruled it out for an earlier foul in the build-up to the goal.

Haaland to the rescue for Dortmund

Dortmund were then tasked with clawing themselves back into the game in the second half when a Patrick Schick goal on the stroke of half time gave the hosts another lead. Again, Haaland was on hand to pull Dortmund back into shape when he brought down a Meunier cross and tapped it into the path of Julian Brandt, who happily then fired it into the back of the net. Dortmund were once again level.

In what became a truly frantic match, Leverkusen then pulled level for the third time in the match before a free-kick from Raphael Guerreiro then brought Dortmund back into the match, leaving an opportunity for one player to bag a late winner. Haaland, naturally, knew exactly what to do.

In the 75th minute Marco Reus went down in the Leverkusen box after a rough shoulder barge from Odilon Kossounou caught the player in the face. With one look at VAR the referee deemed it a penalty. Haaland, with a goal and assist already to his name, then stepped up and calmly put his side in front for the first time in the game.

The performance now means that Haaland has bagged a remarkable eight goals and four assists in his first six games of the season for Dortmund. And is more than enough proof to suggest that the striker is perfectly happy in the Bundesliga right now.