Borussia Dortmund 4-2 Union Berlin: Key Takeaways

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DORTMUND, GERMANY – SEPTEMBER 19: Players of Dortmund celebrate a own goal of Union Berlin during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and 1. FC Union Berlin at Signal Iduna Park on September 19, 2021 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images) /

Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland continue their hot run of form

In discussing what went right for Borussia Dortmund this game, we inevitably have to look to what has been going right since the start of the season, and both Jude Bellingham’s and Erling Haaland’s hot run of form makes the top of the list quite easily. The two players have formed an impressive partnership in their own right as we saw against Beşiktaş J.K. last week, with the two leading Dortmund to an important three points on the road in the Champions League.

Individually however, both Bellingham and Haaland have been responsible for some of Dortmund’s best play in recent weeks where heroics from Haaland in particular have been absolutely necessary for them to escape certain fixtures with a win. Taking a look at Bellingham first however, Dortmund’s 18 year old sensational midfielder was once again a driving force in the middle of the park alongside Mahmoud Dahoud.

The two of them have formed a formidable midfield partnership as well with their aggressive yet also creative approach to each matchday. Jude’s standout moment was his driving run into the box for Dortmund’s third goal. The through ball played to Marco Reus and the run before Dortmund’s captain forced the opposition defense to score an own goal created the move in large part. Both his positioning and awareness to pick out Reus’ run shows his footballing acumen is developed well beyond his years, if that wasn’t clear already.

On Haaland’s part, what is often considered spectacular has become the norm for the Norwegian international for some time now. For the second game in a row, Haaland scored using his head, a previous facet of his game that we didn’t really see often, if at all. It’s really a treat to get to watch a talent of his caliber develop at the club.

This talent was emphasized by his second goal of the match, a flying volley that lobbed Union keeper Andreas Luthe from as very difficult angle. It was not only spectacular, but also saved Dortmund some serious blushes as the Berlin side were in the ascendency, having cut the deficit to just one goal with just 10 minutes of normal time to go.

I will say that despite watching Erling’s fantastic performances and being delighted that he delivers the goods every week, I don’t like the idea of the team becoming too Haaland-reliant. By this I mean that not only do goals have to start coming from more sources, but also the team must not put themselves in a situation to be rescued as often as it does, and this means conceding less goals.