Erling Braut Haaland, the son of former Leeds United and Manchester City player Alf-Inge Haaland, already has an impressive compilation of goals from his first half-season with RB Salzburg this fall. The 19 year old Norwegian scored 8 goals in the Champions League group stage, only fewer than Robert Lewandowski. While there was no doubt he’d be a star, there have been questions about how effective he’ll be post-Salzburg.
A look at the shot map for Borussia Dortmund’s 5-3 win over Augsburg suggests a wild game, but one which ultimately ended with the correct result. Augsburg created and scored two great chances but, those aside, BvB dominated and were worthy winners.
What the shot map doesn’t show is the singular impact of Erling Haaland. The Running xG plot above is augmented by a vertical white line showing when Haaland came on for his Dortmund debut. He entered the field just after Augsburg scored to go up 3-1, and within three minutes had scored his first Bundesliga goal, a clinical strike after running off the last defender. After Jadon Sancho equalized, Haaland went on to score twice more to complete yet another hat trick.
Haaland’s arrival is just what Dortmund need as the best title race in Europe comes toward the home stretch. Last season’s leading scorer Paco Alcacer has been in and out of the team since returning from injury in November, and reports suggest Dortmund are willing to listen to offers.
RB Leipzig are still leading the Bundesliga, with Bayern Munich four points back. Borussia Moenchengladbach are 5 back, while Dortmund and Schalke are both 7 behind. Last year Dortmund were leading the Bundesliga before falling off and succumbing to the inevitable Bayern Munich title charge. Now, with a new striker who scores in bunches wherever he goes, Dortmund look like they have the firepower to maintain a charge and bring back the Bundesliga for the first time since 2012.
Becker Sports Graphics 