The minute-counting has come to an end: Against Sporting Lisbon, BVB newcomer Donyell Malen celebrated his first goal in black and yellow – and in doing so scored his club an important 1:0 victory in the Champions League.
It’s never nice for a striker when the minutes start counting: After all, the recalculation is usually a sign that the last goal was scored a while ago – or that the first one hasn’t even been scored yet. Until Tuesday evening, this was also the case with Dortmund’s new signing Donyell Malen, who joined BVB from Eindhoven in the summer for 30 million euros but has not yet been able to add his name to the list of goalscorers. Until the Champions League match against Sporting Lisbon, in which the Dutchman broke the deadlock in the 37th minute with a well-placed right-footed shot after great preparation by Manuel Akanji and Jude Bellingham – and thus also wiped aside the impression that Dortmund can only score when Erling Haaland is on the pitch. Which, as we all know, the Norwegian did not do against the Portuguese due to a painful horse-foot.
If it hadn’t been so loud in the Dortmund stadium immediately after the goal, you could have heard Malen’s heart drop at that moment. The 22-year-old is a serious guy, one who thinks too much rather than too little – and for whom goalless minutes – 522 since his debut for BVB – are definitely a heavy burden on the shoulders. It was all the more remarkable how thoughtfully he pushed the ball in at the 37th minute instead of blindly hitting the goal. The fact that the beautiful goal was also the goal of the day, guaranteeing Dortmund their second victory in the second group match of this premier league season, made the story even more rounded from Malen’s point of view.
“I’m happy about Donny’s goal because he’s been waiting for it for a long time,” said Marco Rose after the game, who had always protected Malen recently, but had also taken him to task. “That was important for the next few weeks. Hopefully it means for him that he takes a lot of confidence with him.” The BVB coach admitted that Malen had “already been worried” given the expectations on him. “But he has worked very, very diligently in the last few weeks, worked on his deficits,” Rose said. “Now we’re just trying to get consistency in our goal-scoring, to put more actions on the field that create a scoring threat.” Malen, he said, should simply carry on as before, “that’s the most important thing. “
Bellingham: “That was definitely the first goal of many “
Malen’s team-mates were also delighted. Foremost among them was Bellingham, who tweeted: “I’m so happy for Donny. That was definitely the first goal of many.” Midfielder Axel Witsel expressed a similar sentiment, recounting their shared goal celebration after the match: “I wanted to tell him ‘finally’, but the first thing he said to me beforehand was, ‘Yes, finally!” said the Belgian, who said he never doubted his new teammate’s qualities: “Donny waited a long time for the goal, but when you’re a new player, sometimes it takes time. He has a lot of quality, he’s fast, he’s a goal scorer and he’s technically strong. He likes to combine. We are very happy to have him with us.” Even more so now that he is scoring and the annoying minute counting has come to an end.