Karim Adeyemi brace leads Borussia Dortmund to 3-2 win over Cerezo Osaka

Karim Adeyemi scored two goals as Borussia Dortmund concluded their 2024 Asia Tour with a 3-2 win over Cerezo Osaka in Japan on Wednesday evening.

Borussia Dortmund enjoyed a reunion with Shinji Kagawa on Wednesday and marked the occasion with a 3-2 win over his Cerezo Osaka side in Japan. In a topsy-turvy pre-season encounter, the Black and Yellows raced to a three-goal lead before surviving a late scare to claim the win.

Looking to respond after last week's 4-0 defeat to Pathum United in Thailand, Borussia Dortmund started on the front foot and took the lead in the 26th minute with Adeyemi tapping the ball home after Sebastien Haller's header fell into his path.

Jamie Bynoe-Gittens doubled Borussia Dortmund's lead just three minutes later with an excellent curling effort after running in from the left wing. Adeyemi then used his blistering pace to great effect and went through on goal to make it 3-0 in the 30th minute.

Borussia Dortmund appeared to be cruising at half-time, but Cerezo Osaka found a route back into the game in the 66th minute with Masaya Shibayama finding the back of the net. Reiya Sakata then halved the deficit seven minutes later, but the Cerezo Osaka weren't able to find a late equaliser.

Nuri Sahin: Plenty of positives from Borussia Dortmund's 2024 Asia Tour

Nuri Sahin's side held on for the 3-2 win, and the result will no doubt give the youthful team some much-needed confidence heading into the next leg of pre-season. Borussia Dortmund will now return to Germany, before heading to Bad Ragaz for a training camp where they will be joined by the players who featured at Euro 2024.

Sahin said after the game that Borussia Dortmund can take a lot of positives from their pre-season tour of Asia. "I could have done without the defeat in Thailand, but everyone also saw the circumstances and how the game went. I also got to know the players in the team a little better. We've had a lot of conversations and, apart from the result in Thailand, I can really only take positives from it," the BVB head coach said.