Haller toasts Dortmund’s ‘beautiful’ title chance after cancer battle.
Sebastien Haller a striker for Borussia Dortmund claimed after his team’s 3-0 win against Augsburg on Sunday that they were doing something beautiful and were now only one win away from winning the Bundesliga.
Simply amazing, I say. I wouldn’t have believed it if someone had told me six months ago that I would be in this situation, an emotional Haller told DAZN.
Soon after joining Dortmund, Haller had a testicular cancer discovery. He survived four rounds of treatment and two procedures while missing six months before making a January return.
In JanuaryDortmund had been in sixth place but since Haller’s return they have only lost one of their last 18 league games. For more details.
After a decade of Bayern Munich rule, Dortmund are currently two points ahead with one game left.
On Saturday, the last round of games starts at the same time. Dortmund will only need a win against Mainz at home if Bayern win at Cologne in order to win the Bundesliga trophy for the first time since 2011 to 12.
Dortmund will be named winners even if they lose if Bayern draw or lose.
After the win, the German newspaper Bild exulted, with the caption “Haller-luja, Dortmund close in on the title.”
The game was 0-0 until the 58th minute, when Haller capitalized on a defense mistake to score the game’s opening goal, despite the fact that Dortmund had the most of control and Augsburg had been reduced to 10 men late in the first half.
With time running out, he scored another from a rebound, exalting the traveling fans. In extra time, Julian Brandt scored to win the victory.
Dortmund boss Edin Terzic told DAZN, “We’re very happy, but not completely satisfied.” “We need to move on to the next step.”
We have a great chance to do something important, a “happy and proud” Haller told DAZN.
Enrico Maassen, manager of Augsburg, stated: “The red card was the crucial moment… you can give it, but that’s a hard decision.”
Without hurt midfielder Jude Bellingham, Dortmund, who knew a win would put them in charge of the title chase, had not had success on the road since February.
Haller forced Tomas Koubek to make a fingertip save as Dortmund, who had scored 11 goals in their previous two games, controlled the first half but were unable to break through.
Felix Uduokhai, the final man on the field, was sent off just before halftime for pulling down Donyell Malen on the brink of the penalty area.
For the guests, Haller made his breakthrough when he picked up a lost ball, spun, and put it into the far corner.
Haller repeated the feat with little over five minutes left, scoring on a rebound off a Marco Reus effort to give Dortmund a 2-0 lead and prompting chants of “German champions, only Dortmund” from the visiting fans.
Mats Hummels, the leader for Dortmund, was helped off the pitch after suffering a kick to the face as time ran out.
Nico Schlotterbeck, the center-back’s replacement, helped Brandt in getting a third goal.
Stuttgart continues to exist.
Earlier, Stuttgart’s 4-1 win against Mainz gave them a huge edge in their battle against relegation with to goals and two assists from replacement Chris Fuehrich.
Fuehrich joined the game with 30 minutes left and the score tied at 1-1. Two minutes later, he helped Serhou Guirassy on his goal and then scored one himself.
With one more matchday to go, the winger helped Tanguy Coulibaly score another goal in stoppage time to lift his team out of danger of being dropped and into 15th place.
Bayer Leverkusen can strengthen their ambitions of participating in Europe next season if they beat Borussia Moenchengladbach at their place in the match on Sunday.
