BEVERLY HILLS, December 15, (THEWILL) –Â Sixteen-year-old attacking sensation Youssoufa Moukoko got his first start in the Bundesliga for Borussia Dortmund and was inches away from his first goal in the top-flight just four minutes in as they returned to winning ways after letting go of former manager Lucien Favre for a string of poor performances.
Moukoko stretched in his attempt to poke home Gio Reyna’s pass across goal, but just couldn’t make contact. Yet, there was not a long time to wait for the first goal of the Edin Terzic era. Left back Raphael Guerreiro was fastest to the rebound after forward Jadon Sancho’s shot was parried in front of goal, and he buried it into the net.
In the 28th minute, a defensive mixup helped the hosts to an equaliser. Centre back Manuel Akanji’s heavy touch gave Bremen possession and when the ball reached midfielder Maximilian Eggestein, his lay-off was smashed home by central attacking midfielder Kevin Möhwald.
Dortmund very nearly went in front again from a Bremen gift after the half-hour mark. A Christian Gross mistake diverted Jude Bellingham’s cross towards goal but the ball mercifully struck the post without going in.
Akanji went for redemption before half time, getting on the end of Marco Reus’ free-kick, but goalie Jiri Pavlenka produced a superb reflex save to deny him before keeper Roman Bürki tipped a curler from winger Ludwig Augustinsson wide at the other end to keep the score level at the break.
Just like in the first half, youngster Moukoko had another chance to create Bundesliga history early in the second half but sliced his effort wide at full-stretch in his attempt to reach a cut-back from Reus at the back post.
Sancho thought he finally had a debut goal for the season when he scored but it was ruled out for offside. Dortmund dominated possession through the second half and always looked the most likely to take the lead.
Dortmund captain Reus headed right back Mateu Morey’s cross towards goal but Pavlenka was equal to it with 15 minutes to go. Yet, Reus was to have the final say, though not without more drama.
In the 76th minute, Akanji drew a foul in the Bremen box from Pavlenka and referee Robert Schroeder awarded a penalty. Reus stepped up but his delivery was saved by the keeper. However, the captain reacted fastest to smash home the rebound. In the end, it was enough to earn Dortmund their first win in their last three Bundesliga outings.
For their next encounters, Dortmund travel to Union Berlin on Friday while on Saturday, Mainz host Bremen at their Opel Arena.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
