Donyell Malen opens his account as Borussia Dortmund beat Sporting CP

Donyell Malen scored his first goal for Borussia Dortmund to fire them to a 1-0 win over Sporting CP on matchday two of the UEFA Champions League group stage.

Donyell Malen has finally arrived at Borussia Dortmund. After a slow start following his summer move from PSV Eindhoven, the Netherlands international finally scored his first goal for BVB in their UEFA Champions League clash against Sporting CP on Tuesday evening. And it proved to be a crucial one for the Black and Yellows, as it secured a hard fought 1-0 win.

Borussia Dortmund welcomed captain Marco Reus back into the starting XI, as Marco Rose changed his system from a back three to a back four. Thorgan Hazard also made his first start in over a month to boost the team’s attack.

Borussia Dortmund were the dominant of the two teams in the first half. But despite creating some good openings, they had to wait until the 37th minute to take the lead. And the goal arrived through Donyell Malen, who kept his composure to find the bottom corner after being set up by Jude Bellingham. The goal helped Malen open his account at Borussia Dortmund, and the joy on his face after scoring showed just how much it meant to him.

Marco Reus thought he had doubled his side’s lead early in the second half after another gorgeous pass from Jude Bellingham. But the linesman raised his flag for offside to deny the BVB captain. Donyell Malen also had a goal ruled out for offside in the second half.

Borussia Dortmund failed to find a second goal but got the job done quite comfortably in the end. Gregor Kobel was hardly ever tested, and he will no doubt be delighted to get his first clean sheet since the first round of the DFB-Pokal last month.

It wasn’t the best of performances from Borussia Dortmund, but Marco Rose will take plenty of positives from this result. Next up for BVB is a home game against FC Augsburg in the Bundesliga on Saturday.