It's quite rare to see a player make four assists in a single game. But that's exactly what Julian Ryerson pulled off on Friday in a phenomenal display of creative brilliance.
Dortmund picked up their biggest league win of the Bundesliga season with a 4-0 drubbing of Mainz, and every single one of those goals was created by Ryerson.
A right-back by trade, the Norwegian ace had already established himself among the best creators for the season with seven to his name until Friday.
But this was truly special; something we don't get to see often, especially from a right-back.
His first contribution of the evening was delivering a free-kick inside the box which picked out Guirassy perfectly, followed by an inch-perfect corner for Beier to head home.
Minutes before half-time, the 28-year-old stood over another corner and sent one in for Guirassy to head home from close range for 3-0.
With that, Ryerson became the first player in Borussia Dortmund's history to register a hat-trick of assists in the first half of a Bundesliga match. Quite an accomplishment, admittedly.
But seemingly not satisfied, he delivers yet another corner in the dying embers for Bensebaini to score, although it took a deflection off Mainz defender on its way into the back of the net.
Four assists in a single game. By a right-back. He's also just the fourth player to achieve that in the German top-flight since 2004-05 season.
Former Real Madrid and Arsenal great Mesut Ozil managed it back in 2009 with Werder Bremen against Freiburg. Christopher Nkunku repeated the trick for RB Leipzig against Schalke in 2020.
More recently, Pascal Gross also had pulled it off for Dortmund against Union Berlin last year. Despite etching his name in such an esteemed list, Ryerson downplayed his achievement. He said:
"“It’s not all that difficult. I just have to place the ball in the right spot. The others finish it off. There’s also other things that you [the observers] don’t see. The blockers, for example. They do a good job.“"said Ryerson
Ryerson also seemed disinterested in crediting himself for their fourth goal, humbly suggesting that credits must go to the goalscorers instead. He further added:
"“I’m not really interested in the match-ball. Maybe if I get credited with the assist [on the fourth goal], I’ll think about it. Still, the honor goes to the goal scorers.”"he added
Ryerson now has 11 assists in the Bundesliga this season, the most behind only Bayern Munich's Michael Olise (16).