Erling Haaland came off the bench to score a 20-minute hat-trick on his Bundesliga debut as Borussia Dortmund came from behind to beat Augsburg in a pulsating encounter at the WWK-Arena.
Dortmund made an ominous start as Thorgan Hazard tested Tomas Koubek and captain Marco Reus miscued from Jadon Sancho inside seven minutes.
Augsburg’s Florian Niederlechner had a breakaway goal ruled out for offside following consultation with the VAR, before Sancho and Reus failed to land another couple of promising openings on target.
BVB’s misfiring frontline were punished when Ruben Vargas gratefully picked off a wayward pass on halfway from Hazard, before racing clear and pulling back for Niederlechner to give Augsburg the half-time lead.
Augsburg doubled their advantage soon after the restart through a thunderous Marco Richter strike. Julian Brandt reduced the arrears moments later with the aid of the crossbar, but Dortmund were caught out once again as Niederlechner crowned another incisive counter, this time poking home from Philipp Max. Augsburg were buoyant, but the introduction of Haaland changed the game.
The Norway international scored with his second touch to spark a comeback of epic proportions, with Sancho – provider for Haaland’s first – controlling Mats Hummels’s stunning long ball and rounding Tomas Koubek to level on the hour.
Haaland added goals four – awarded after another VAR check – and five – a clinical left-footed finish – to complete a memorable debut and turnaround.
