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Haaland Double Fires Dortmund Into UCL Lead vs. PSG

Erling Haaland scored two goals in an eight-minute span to give Dortmund a 2-1 win over PSG in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16.

Avi Creditor

Haaland Double Fires Dortmund Into UCL Lead vs. PSG
Haaland Double Fires Dortmund Into UCL Lead vs. PSG /

It took a while to heat up, but Borussia Dortmund and PSG brought the goods in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 series.

Each is the highest-scoring team in its respective league, though defending has been less successful of a venture for both, meaning that plenty of fireworks were expected in their two head-to-head clashes. Nevertheless, two of the world's most electric attacking sides remained scoreless for 69 minutes until two goals from Erling Haaland sandwiched a tidy finish from Neymar in Germany in a 2-1 first-leg Dortmund victory.

Neymar's away goal will loom large heading into the second leg, but Dortmund carries the edge thanks to its 19-year-old Norwegian sensation.

The early fireworks were provided more from the fans in the stands at Signal Iduna Park than on the field, with the Dortmund faithful providing another breathtaking tifo display.

In terms of the action, Haaland and Jadon Sancho pushed Dortmund forward on one sequence, only for Achraf Hakimi to be unable to race down a ball out wide.

PSG's first close call came 10 minutes in after Neymar earned a free kick in a dangerous position. He stepped up to take it from 25 yards and out curled a gorgeous chance that went just wide of the right post.

Dortmund continued to look strong on the counter, and four minutes after Neymar's close call, Sancho had one of his own. After Haaland sprung the sequence with a defensive header off a PSG corner, Sancho broke forward but neglected to play a ball to his right, where Hakimi appeared to be open in the box, or slip a pass forward, where a surging Haaland was running. Instead, he opted for a low, long-range chance that trickled wide left of the mark.

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Sancho had another chance denied in the 27th minute, when Keylor Navas made a diving save to his left to parry away Sancho's right-footed curler from 18 yards.

Haaland came close in the 35th minute with a powerful left-footed blast, one that beat Navas but also went wide of the left post to keep the match at 0-0.

Kylian Mbappe and Neymar both had chances to break through for PSG just after the hour mark, with the former having a right-sided blast saved and Neymar sending his follow-up wide. 

Haaland finally found the breakthrough for Dortmund in the 69th minute. The Norwegian teen found himself in the right spot to stab home a ball that popped through to him at the goalmouth, where he finished to make it 1-0. It was Sancho who began the sequence, playing it out right to Hakimi, who crossed for Raphael Guerreiro. His ball took a favorable direction into Haaland's path, and he knew exactly what to do with it.

The goal came moments after the introduction of U.S. teen Giovanni Reyna, who became the youngest American to feature in the Champions League at 17 years, 97 days.

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Dortmund's celebrations didn't last long. Neymar scored the equalizer–and a big away goal–when he redirected Mbappe's cross from the right after the France international shredded Dortmund's defense.

PSG's reprieve lasted for all of two minutes. It was Haaland who did the damage again, taking a short pass from Reyna–who became the youngest American to register a Champions League assist–and firing a 20-yard laser by Navas to restore Dortmund's lead at 2-1 in the 77th minute.

For Haaland, the goal was his 11th in seven games in all competitions since joining Dortmund from Salzburg at the start of the January transfer window. It was his 10th in the Champions League, with Haaland scoring eight in the group stage with Salzburg prior to his transfer.

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Here were the lineups for both sides:

The second leg will take place March 11 in Paris.

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Avi Creditor
AVI CREDITOR

Avi Creditor is a senior editor and has covered soccer for more than a decade. He’s also a scrappy left back. 

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