Borussia Dortmund reached the top of the Bundesliga after winning 3-0 against visiting Freiburg in the early match of round 21.
German striker Niclas Fullkrug shone with a goal that sealed the 3-0 victory, along with two assists for Donyell Malen's goals. This striking duo naturally received the highest ratings of the match, 8.7 and 9.4 points respectively, according to Whoscored . The home team also dominated the game, having nearly three times as many shots as the visitors (17 compared to 6).
Striker Donyell Malen celebrates a goal after Dortmund's victory over Freiburg at Signal Iduna Park in the 21st round of the Bundesliga on February 9, 2024. Photo: Borussia Dortmund
Dortmund have maintained an unbeaten run since the beginning of 2024, with four wins and one draw. Only league leaders Bayer Leverkusen have been in as good form as Edin Terzic's side. These results give Dortmund an advantage over Leipzig in the race for a top-four finish in the Bundesliga. The high form of their striking duo has propelled Dortmund to great heights, with Fullkrug scoring six goals in his last four matches, and Malen contributing four.
These two strikers combined to lead to the opening goal in the 16th minute. Right-back Julian Ryerson crossed the ball into the penalty area for Fullkrug to control and then lay it off for Malen to shoot into the top corner. Towards the end of the first half, Fullkrug led a counter-attack from midfield to the edge of the penalty area, then passed to the right for Malen to fire a low diagonal shot from about 15 meters, making the score 2-0.
Fullkrug, 31 years old and 1.89m tall, rose to prominence playing for Werder Bremen when he won the Bundesliga top scorer award last season with 16 goals. This striker is considered a late bloomer, having only been called up to the German national team in 2022, but has already scored 10 goals in 13 international matches. Malen, 25 years old, scored against the Vietnamese national team in Dortmund's 1-2 defeat at My Dinh Stadium on November 30, 2022.
Dortmund secured the victory against Freiburg when Chelsea's loaned left-back Ian Maatsen delivered a cross for Fullkrug to head into the far corner in the 87th minute. Shortly afterwards, Manchester United striker Jadon Sancho was brought on to replace Marco Reus, but he didn't have many opportunities to showcase his skills.
In their next match, Dortmund will play away at Wolfsburg on February 17th, before facing PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League Round of 16.
Xuan Binh
Source link
Comment (0)