'He's something else': Haaland nets 20-minute hat-trick on Bundesliga debut as wonderkid helps Dortmund to comeback win
Teen sensation Erling Braut Haaland wasted little time in introducing himself to German top-flight football, scoring a hat-trick within 23 minutes of coming on for his Bundesliga debut in Borussia Dortmund’s 5-3 win at Augsburg.
Haaland, 19, joined the German side from Red Bull Salzburg earlier in January, opting for a move to Dortmund despite interest from the likes of Manchester United and Juventus.
OFFICIAL: Borussia Dortmund sign Norwegian wonderkid Haaland
And the big forward took no time at all to settle into life in Germany, hitting three goals in the space of 20 second-half minutes away at Augsburg in Dortmund’s first game back after the winter break.
Haaland replaced Lukasz Piszczek on 56 minutes with Dortmund 3-1 down, but soon set about reversing that scoreline, finding the net with his first touch just three minutes after coming on.
Jadon Sancho then equalized for Dortmund, before Haaland took over the show, adding his second - and Dortmund’s fourth - by tapping home on 70 minutes, and then completing his hat-trick in style in the 79th minute when he collected a Marco Reus through-ball and calmly slid the ball left-footed past Tomas Koubek in the Augsburg net.
It was a dream league debut for the Norwegian youngster, and took his incredible tally for the season to 31 in just 23 games across all club competitions.
It also had social media raving over a player seen as one of the brightest young talents in the game.
Erling Haaland came on in the 56th minute for his @BlackYellow debut. They were 3-1 down. 23 minutes later he scored his 3rd goal and it’s now 5-3. Extraordinary.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) January 18, 2020
Erling Haaland comes on for his Dortmund debut after 57 minutes 🔄⚽️ 59'⚽️ 70'⚽️ 79'This lad is something else 🔥🔥pic.twitter.com/eyB7sYyOh1
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) January 18, 2020
Hat-trick.On his debut.It took him 23 minutes.Welcome to Erling Haaland, Bundesliga 🤩 pic.twitter.com/FPdo8lG1c7
— B/R Football (@brfootball) January 18, 2020
Augsburg had gone 2-0 up on Saturday thanks to goals from Florian Niederlechner and Marco Richter, before Julian Brandt pulled one back for the visitors.
Niederlechner restored Augsburg's two-goal cushion on 55 minutes, before the introduction of Haaland turned the game on its head.
Erling Braut Håland scoring a 20 minute hat-trick on his Dortmund debut because he's the real deal 🔥Enjoy 😘pic.twitter.com/rpZ2DZ3FX1
— BT Sport (@btsport) January 18, 2020
Erling Håland's game by numbers vs. Augsburg:34 minutes played3 shots3 shots on target3 goals 1 hat-trickWhat a debut. 😍 pic.twitter.com/6nkuFjYhSv
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) January 18, 2020
The win puts Dortmund fourth in the Bundesliga table, level on 33 points with Bayern Munich, who have a game in hand.
RB Leipzig are top on 37 points, also having played a game fewer than Dortmund.
Still, now that Haaland is in town, Dortmund will hope they can set about mouting a major title challenge.
