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Haaland nabs hat trick in slam-bang Borussia Dortmund debut to lead wild rally (video)

Erling Haaland (left) scored three times in 20 minutes and U.S. youth international Gio Reyna also made his Borussia Dortmund debut in Saturday's victory. (Photo by Stefan Puchner/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Erling Haaland (left) scored three times in 20 minutes and U.S. youth international Gio Reyna also made his Borussia Dortmund debut in Saturday's victory. (Photo by Stefan Puchner/picture alliance via Getty Images)

The Borussia Dortmund Erling Haaland looks a lot like the RB Salzburg Erling Haaland.

Dortmund’s big January window signing scored three times in 20 minutes off the bench and the German giants rallied from two goals down to a 5-3 victory at Augsburg.

Gio Reyna, the 17-year-old United States youth national teamer, also made his senior debut after being promoted from the club’s academy this week.

Haaland’s signing was a big win for Dortmund, as the 19-year-old Norwegian starred for Salzburg and American manager Jesse Marsch in the Champions League this season. He wasted little time recapturing that form.

With Dortmund down 3-1 in the 56th minute, Haaland replaced Lukasz Piszczek off the bench and snuck into space behind three Augsburg defenders. Jadon Sancho found him and Haaland did the rest (via FOX Soccer):

Sancho himself tied the game a couple minutes later, and Haaland then gave Dortmund the lead as Augsburg’s backline was nightmarishly caught out and Thorgan Hazard set up a sitter:

Haaland punctuated his debut by chasing down a ball and firing into the bottom-left corner in the 79th minute:

Reyna came on for Hazard in the 72nd minute and recorded a shot. It’s an encouraging development for the attacking mid, and his rapid ascent through Dortmund’s ranks could lead to a call-up from Gregg Berhalter and the USMNT in March.

Dortmund, meanwhile, keeps pace in what’s become a hotly contested race for the top four spots, and also keeps Bundesliga-leading RB Leipzig in its sights.

It sure looked like Dortmund was going to faceplant the first game out of the winter break. Haaland prevented it. No wonder there was such excitement around his signing.

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