Haaland quadruple rocks Berlin as Bayern slip up
November 22, 2020
Matchday 8 headlines
- Haaland heroics hands Dortmund big win
- Moukoko makes Bundesliga history
- Bayern slip up, Schalke nightmare continues
Haaland turns on the style to close gap
Erling Haaland demonstrated why he is one of the very best in the business with a match-winning performance against Hertha Berlin at the Olympic Stadium in the capital. Hertha had led at halftime through Matheus Cunha's superb long-range shot, but that merely stirred the beast. Haaland scored twice within four minutes of the restart, with his clinical second the pick of the bunch. The 20-year-old Norwegian added two more and Raphael Gueirrero got in on the act to complete the rout. Cunha pulled one back from the spot but it was mere consolation following Haaland's outrageous second-half exploits, which sends Dortmund second and closes the gap to Bayern to a single point.
Moukoko makes history
Saturday's late game was notable for more than just Haaland's heroics. Youssoufa Moukoko, Dortmund's Cameroon-born teenage sensation, came off the bench in the 85th minute to become the youngest player in Bundesliga history. At 16 years and one day, he smashed the previous record held by Nuri Sahin, who was one month short of his 17th birthday when he played for Dortmund in 2005. Moukoko enjoyed a few touches of the ball in Berlin and will surely be a player Lucien Favre gradually gives more playing time to in the coming weeks.
Bremen earn rare point in Munich
It's not often that a team takes anything away from the Allianz Arena, but Werder Bremen did just that. Florian Kohfeldt's side were good value for their 1-1 draw and mustered enough chances to sneak a shock win. Fortunately for Bayern, goalkeeper Manuel Neuer wasn't in the same charitable mood as his defense. In the end it was down to Kingsley Coman to salvage a point after Maxi Eggestein had put Bremen in front on the stroke of halftime. Bremen kept their nerve to earn their fifth consecutive 1-1 draw in the league, but this one means more than the previous four.
Schalke nightmare continues, Poulsen stunner spares Leipzig
Elsewhere, we saw Schalke's shocking winless streak extend to 24 games after a home defeat to Wolfsburg. They last won a league game on January 17 against Borussia Mönchengladbach and are closing in on the all-time winless record (31), held by the now defunct Tasmania Berlin.
Eintracht Frankfurt, who are on a five-game winless streak themselves, put in their best performance for a while, but were thwarted by a sensational volley by RB Leipzig's Yussuf Poulsen. On a weekend that saw four score draws, Leverkusen sneaked a late win at Arminia Bielefeld, who have lost six in a row and are finding life tough on their return to the top-flight.
Player of the week: Erling Haaland (Dortmund)
Who else? Four second-half goals turned the game on its head in Berlin. That's ten goals in seven games this season and, for the first time in a long time, Robert Lewandowski has competition for the Bundesliga golden boot.
Young player of the week: Youssoufa Moukoko (Dortmund)
He may have only featured for five minutes, but Moukoko's appearance for Dortmund is historically significant. At 16 years and a day, his record is likely to stand for a very long time.
Coach of the week: Florian Kohfeldt (Werder Bremen)
It wasn't so long ago that Kohfeldt was taking Bremen into a Bundesliga relegation play-off game. A few months later, he's guided his team to a huge point at the Allianz Arena. Bayern were visibly fatigued following a tough international break that didn't affect Bremen as much. Kohfeldt had a clear plan though, and Bremen executed it perfectly, keeping their heads in the final 30 minutes to get a point and even create chances to win it.