Erling Haaland scores twice for Dortmund to leave Sevilla on the brink
Haaland #Haaland
On Tuesday night it was Kylian Mbappé; on Wednesday, it was Erling Haaland. In two games over 24 hours Spain, for so long the stage for Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, witnessed the two men most likely to replace them, marking an era of their own, offer a demonstration of the reasons why.
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The Norwegian did not leave Spain with the match ball at as the Frenchman had, but for 45 minutes he gave a lesson in destruction, scoring twice as Borussia Dortmund defeated Sevilla 3-2.
There is something almost unnatural about Haaland, his impact on everyone around him huge, not just in the goals, but the variety his has, the almost brutal beauty of his game, the panic that accompanies opponents when he plays. And while Sevilla fought back to make a match of this, Luuk De Jong setting up a frantic finish with a late goal, Haaland’s double and Mahmoud Dahoud’s lovely shot had ultimately done for them.
Sevilla had opened the scoring, too. Fernando opened out to Suso on the left and he turned inside and shaped to hit it, sending Jadon Sancho jumping to block a shot that didn’t happen. Taking another step closer, this time he did shoot, the ball passing Jude Bellingham, clipping the toe of Mats Hummels and ending up in the net. It was the seventh minute, and it seemed like the perfect start – all the more so when Jules Koundé strode through and shot wide soon after – but it didn’t last.
Just about as long as it took Haaland to get up and running, in fact. Sancho’s footwork was fast, Dahoud moved smoothly through the middle, and Bellingham passed and moved with confidence. But Haaland is something else, factory-built but breaking the mould. Every time he set off, you could feel the fear, an intake of breath accompanying the surge, the needle on the speedometer climbing steadily and defenders backing away as if scared to stand in the path of this this thing, this machine. It, after all, wasn’t going to stop.
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Out on the right he collected the ball, escaped Sergio Escudero, slipped the ball through the legs of Joan Jordan and set off. Immediately, you could sense something happening. Diego Carlos certainly could, chasing, Haaland played it across to Dahoud who cut back and bent a superb curler into the far corner. This was the first time Dahoud had started a game in ten weeks; it was also the first time that Bono had been beaten in 729 minutes.
He didn’t have to wait long for it to happen again. For Haaland to. There was an audible gasp when, without seeming to move his foot, he smacked a shot that could literally be described a breath taking. Bono saved that but couldn’t stop him.
Jorge Valdano once memorably said that when Brazilian Ronaldo attacked, it was like the whole herd attacked, and there is something of that in Haaland. The second goal came by stampede, Haaland shrugging off Jordan, running at Sevilla and seeking a one-two with Sancho.
The return pass was superb, subtle and perfectly played for Haaland to continue into the area and finish. The third was made by Reus, robbing the ball from Ivan Rakitic and Papu Gómez and carrying it to the edge of the area, before slipping it into the path of Haaland to guide into the corner. He knelt, arms raised, teammates running towards him, knowing this was done.
Sevilla had the ball as the second half began, moving it around tidily and with increasing intensity, determined not to simply let this go, but Dortmund didn’t seem to mind too much. Instead, they appeared content to wait for the space to open before them and were mostly untroubled at the back.
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Julen Lopetegui, the Sevilla coach, had taken off Ivan Rakitic at half time and he made three more changes on the hour, although it was Jesús Navas who briefly looked most likely to open up Dortmund. His delivery it was that reached Escudero for an effort that squirmed wide, the first notable moment since the break.
Lopetegui made one more change, Óscar Rodríguez introduced and immediately striking the inside of the post with a free kick with his first touch. If that was the only time, until then, that Marwin Hitz was troubled, Sevilla continued to search for a way back into this and with seven minutes to go, another Luuk De Jong volleyed in another Oscar free kick, hope taking hold. Tension, too. The damage had been done.