Europa League: Hummels hails spirit after epic comeback
Dortmund came from three goals down to win 4-3 against Odds BK in playoffs
Pierre Aubameyang scores Dortmund's first goal past Odd's goalkeeper Sondre Rossbach during the UEFA Europa League match in Skien, Norway on August 20, 2015. PHOTO: AFP
BERLIN:
Skipper Mats Hummels admitted Borussia Dortmund’s stunning 4-3 fightback win at Norway’s Odds BK in the Europa League had started “like a bad film” after they leaked three early goals.
Dortmund left themselves with a mountain to climb at Odds’ Skagerrak-Arena as the Norwegians raced into a 3-0 lead after just 22 minutes of Thursday’s Europa League qualification play-off.
In Skien, two hours south of Oslo, the hosts looked on course to claim a famous win after goals from Jone Samuelsen, Fredrik Nordkvelle and a direct free-kick from Espen Ruud by the midway point in the first half.
But Dortmund roared back with a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang brace either side of a Shinji Kagawa strike to make it 3-3 with 15 minutes remaining before Henrikh Mkhitaryan headed home the 84th minute winner for his seventh goal in four games.
“The end result outweighed the irritation that we didn’t score a fifth or sixth goal,” said Hummels as his side conceded their first goal after just 14 seconds, but hit the crossbar twice in the opening 30 minutes. “It was a catastrophe of a start — like something out of a bad film. We were lucky in the second-half that we could get it back to 3-3.
The result means Dortmund have now won all five of their competitive matches under new coach Thomas Tuchel.
His predecessor Jurgen Klopp once described the team as “monsters of mentality” after they fought back from a goal down away to Mainz in 2011 in the Bundesliga and the current Borussia side showed a similar fighting spirit.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 22nd, 2015.
Skipper Mats Hummels admitted Borussia Dortmund’s stunning 4-3 fightback win at Norway’s Odds BK in the Europa League had started “like a bad film” after they leaked three early goals.
Dortmund left themselves with a mountain to climb at Odds’ Skagerrak-Arena as the Norwegians raced into a 3-0 lead after just 22 minutes of Thursday’s Europa League qualification play-off.
In Skien, two hours south of Oslo, the hosts looked on course to claim a famous win after goals from Jone Samuelsen, Fredrik Nordkvelle and a direct free-kick from Espen Ruud by the midway point in the first half.
But Dortmund roared back with a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang brace either side of a Shinji Kagawa strike to make it 3-3 with 15 minutes remaining before Henrikh Mkhitaryan headed home the 84th minute winner for his seventh goal in four games.
“The end result outweighed the irritation that we didn’t score a fifth or sixth goal,” said Hummels as his side conceded their first goal after just 14 seconds, but hit the crossbar twice in the opening 30 minutes. “It was a catastrophe of a start — like something out of a bad film. We were lucky in the second-half that we could get it back to 3-3.
The result means Dortmund have now won all five of their competitive matches under new coach Thomas Tuchel.
His predecessor Jurgen Klopp once described the team as “monsters of mentality” after they fought back from a goal down away to Mainz in 2011 in the Bundesliga and the current Borussia side showed a similar fighting spirit.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 22nd, 2015.