Dortmund: Borussia Dortmund won 4-3 at home against Augsburg on Sunday as Sebastian Haller returned to the squad after battling testicular cancer.
Dortmund took the lead three times, only for Augsburg to equalise, taking advantage of the home side’s disorganized defence.
Dortmund manager Edin Terzic brought on Jamie Byno-Gittens and Gio Reyna in the 70th minute, both wingers scoring to help their side to victory.
Terzik praised his team’s resilience in a “wild, chaotic match”.
“I’m glad we still won the game with all the setbacks. The positive thing is we fought back.”
Augsburg coach Enrico Maassen said his side, which sit just one place above the relegation playoff places, could take positives from the “annoying” result.
“We played a very big game. If we play like this, we will get our points.”
Dortmund’s early proceedings were the better before Jude Bellingham broke through in the 29th minute.
The 19-year-old Englishman collected the ball on the edge of the box and sent the Augsburg defenders the wrong way before drilling a low shot into the bottom right corner of the net.
Despite Dortmund’s dominance of possession, Augsburg struck back in the 40th minute when Dion Beljo cleared a sloppy Nico Schlotterbeck before passing to Arne Maier, who slotted home.
Schlotterbeck immediately redeemed himself, however, slotting in a Julian Brandt free-kick to put Dortmund 2–1 ahead.
Augsburg equalized in stoppage time, volleying past Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel for his sixth goal of the campaign.
Haller came off the bench in the 61st minute to thunderous applause from the home and away fans, his first competitive appearance since May 2022.
Celebrating the striker’s return after a six-month battle with the disease, he took to the field wearing boots emblazoned with the words ‘F*ck Cancer’.
With the move towards more dropped points for the home side of the game, Byno-Gittens and Reyna were introduced.
The home side took the lead almost immediately, 18-year-old Englishman Byno-Gittens curling the ball brilliantly from just outside the box.
Augsburg’s David Colina pulled one back less than a minute later, but Dortmund took the lead two minutes later when US forward Reyna lifted the ball over Rafal Gikiewicz and fired into the back of the net.
Reyna turned to Dortmund’s famous yellow wall after scoring the winner, putting his fingers to his ears in an apparent gesture referring to the ongoing feud between national team coach Greg Berhalter and the Reyna family, which has sparked world cup football. The cup has intrigued American football ever since.
Terzik commended Reyna’s resilience, saying, “She’s been through a lot these past few weeks.”
Dortmund cruised into a nervy final with just a few minutes to go for the three points which took them to sixth in the table.
Defender Schlotterbeck, who was at fault for two of Augsburg’s three goals, thanked his team’s attackers for rescuing the side’s weak defence.
“Quality up front – and no quality at the back,” the Germany defender told broadcaster DAZN.
“I don’t even know whether I should be happy with the win or angry with conceding three goals.”
In late Sunday’s game, goals from Micheal Bakker, Amin Adly and Nadeem Amiri gave Bayer Leverkusen a 3-2 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Bakker pounced on Adam Holozek’s deflected shot after 21 minutes before French winger Adly doubled the visitors’ lead just before half-time.
Amiri replaced Halczek in the 64th minute, scoring only three minutes later and running onto the sidelines to hug Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso.
Gladbach captain Lars Stindl scored two late goals to keep Leverkusen on their toes, but the visitors stayed put.
Alonso called for more consistency, telling DAZN “the performance was good until the 75th minute”.
“It was a bit of a risk in the end. Now we have to move on.”
Star teenager Florian Wertz came off the bench late in the match, his first game since March 2022 after tearing his ACL.
Leverkusen’s sixth straight win over their local rivals continues the team’s impressive resurgence under Alonso.
The club have now won four Bundesliga matches under the former Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich player, having started the season with four defeats in five matches.