Borussia Dortmund substitute Jonas Hofmann scored one goal and earned a penalty in an unconvincing 2-1 win over promoted Eintracht Braunschweig in the Bundesliga on Sunday.
Seven minutes after coming on, Hofmann broke the deadlock with 15 minutes remaining when he played a one-two with Mats Hummels and scored off the far post from a tight angle.
The 21-year-old midfielder went down under Ermin Bicakcic’s challenge to earn the penalty. Marco Reus converted the spot-kick in the 86th minute.
Photo: AFP
Braunschweig’s consolation in the 89th minute came from Kevin Kratz, though his effort from Mirko Boland’s corner took a deflection off Robert Lewandowski.
“Give it gas and have fun,” Hofmann said about his instructions from Juergen Klopp, who celebrated his 100th victory as Dortmund coach.
It was the first time since Klopp took over in 2008 that Dortmund have started the season with two wins.
Off-season signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan made his Bundesliga debut, but was twice thwarted on the line by Braunschweig goalkeeper Daniel Davari in the second half.
“The most important thing today was that we won the game,” Mkhitaryan said.
Dortmund started well, dominating possession and not allowing Braunschweig any space or time on the ball, but once the visitors had weathered the storm, Klopp’s side seemed to run out of ideas.
Indeed, Norman Theuerkauf nearly scored in a rare burst forward for Braunschweig in the 33rd minute, when his volley from a rebound flew narrowly wide of the right post.
Braunschweig remained organized defensively after the break, but Dortmund increased the pressure and the breakthrough, when it came, was deserved.
Braunschweig were left to rue their second defeat in as many games on their return to the top flight after 28 years.
“We played a good game again, but again it’s the wrong result. It’s very disappointing,” Braunschweig captain Dennis Kruppke said.
Earlier, Japan international midfielder Hiroshi Kiyotake struck late to salvage a 2-2 draw for Nuremberg over Hertha BSC, denying the newly promoted visitors two wins from two games.
“We left two points behind,” Hertha coach Jos Luhukay said. “We had the game completely under control in the second half.”
Kiyotake scored with a free-kick in the 89th minute, 10 minutes after a penalty by substitute Ronny looked to have given Hertha their first win in Nuremberg for a decade.
Nuremberg striker Josip Drmic opened the scoring in the 40th minute when Daniel Ginczek did well to hold off two defenders and set him up.
Ginczek had already struck the post with a header.
Sami Allagui equalized with a deflected effort in the 61st minute when his shot bounced off Berkay Dabanli’s chest beyond Nuremberg goalkeeper Raphael Schaefer.
Hertha midfielder Alexander Baumjohann had the chance to make it 2-1 minutes later, only to shoot straight at Schaefer.
“I can live with the point,” Baumjohann said. “The coach sent a signal with [substitutes] Ronny and Sandro [Wagner]. We wanted to win.”
Baumjohann was somewhat fortunate to be on the pitch after shoving Javier Pinola in the face in retaliation as the two went head-to-head in disagreement. Both players were shown yellow cards in the 53rd minute.
They were involved again for Hertha’s penalty, when Baumjohann went down under Pinola’s challenge.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care