The Manchester City striker was restricted by his former employers for 84 minutes. It made no difference. City had come alive after falling behind to a second-half header from the outstanding Jude Bellingham. With 10 minutes remaining John Stones unleashed an emphatic, uncharacteristic equalizer against a tiring German side. Four minutes later João Cancelo looked up from the left and curled a superb cross into the six-yard box with the outside of his right foot. Three Borussia defenders and a former Dortmund forward were waiting. “We are all behind the ball where we need to be,” explained Mats Hummels. “But nobody closes the ball and we let a cross go to Erling Haaland, who is just Erling Haaland.” There was a lot more to the ending than this explanation. Haaland got up behind defensive substitute Nico Schlotterbeck, feet first, and with the outside of his left foot drove an acrobatic volley past Alexander Meyer. It was a remarkable goal from a player in remarkable form. Haaland now has 13 goals in his first nine appearances for Pep Guardiola’s side, who were staring at a first Champions League home defeat in 21 games until a triple change and a string of superb goals turned the game around. The defeat was tough for Dortmund, presenting a far more uncomfortable test for the Premier League champions than last week’s 4-0 drubbing at Sevilla, as well as a test of patience for Haaland and those hoping for a continuation of their prolific start goal machine in the colors of City. In the first half, Haaland won possession several times, had a minor clash with former Liverpool midfielder Emre Can and helped take a drink from goalkeeper Meyer’s water bottle while waiting for a first-half corner. But he didn’t score a single goal. The striker was not alone in this matter. After perfectly observing a minute’s silence for Queen Elizabeth II, Edin Terzic’s side comfortably smothered City in the first half. Their midfield trio helped form a solid unit that was content to let Riyad Mahrez and Jack Grealish take the ball out wide while closing the gaps in the middle. When danger arose, the experienced central midfield duo of Hummels and Niklas Sule were alert. Süle prevented Haaland from taking his first hint of a chance when he cleared Mahrez’s cross just as the former Dortmund striker rose to connect. It wasn’t until the 41st minute that Kevin De Bruyne found a chance to release Haaland behind the German defence, but that opening was snuffed out by a Hummels cut. Jude Bellingham heads past Ederson to give Borussia Dortmund the lead. Photo: Peter Powell/EPA City painted a picture of frustration just before the interval with Guardiola at the frequent failure of his players to stop Dortmund from playing in behind. Grealish was another source of irritation. The £100m man was regularly found in space on the left but rarely got the better of Thomas Meunier at right-back or beat the visitors’ defense with a signature cross. It was no surprise when he was replaced. Dortmund put City under constant pressure with a fast, intense start to the second half. Guardiola called in his assistants for an emergency technical meeting but, by the time their changes were introduced, the damage had been done. Marco Reus had gone close with a shot from Bellingham before the England midfielder opened the scoring. Start your evenings with the Guardian’s view of the world of football Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. The City crowd rose to applaud the imminent introduction of Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva and Julián Álvarez only for Dortmund to strike before they entered the fray. Salih Özcan beat Haaland to a corner from Giovanni Reyna, son of former City captain Claudio, and headed towards Reus who was lurking unmarked on the edge of the penalty area. The Dortmund captain curled a cross back into the six-yard box where Bellingham, reacting quicker than Haaland or full debutant Manuel Akanji, darted between his two former team-mates to beat Ederson with a header from close range. Guardiola’s changes improved City immeasurably in the final third, yet Haaland endured more disappointment before haunting his former club. The striker got his first glimpse of the goal when De Bruyne’s chip put him in the right channel but, from a tight angle, he shot wide. A Foden cross then appeared destined for the sliding Haaland only for Hummels to step in with a challenge which Dortmund celebrated as the winner. Too early. An unlikely savior emerged for City in the form of Stones. The defender, deployed at right-back in the absence of Kyle Walker, collected a pass from De Bruyne and opted to volley over from 20 yards. Stones’ drive was deflected over Sloterbeck’s head and into the near top corner of Meyer’s goal. The keeper could have done better than to wave at the shot, although the pace and dive were mitigating factors. Then came the moment Haaland and City had longed for, and the one Dortmund had feared. It didn’t disappoint. Again.
