Dortmund 4-3 Sundowns: BVB triumph in Cincinnati against brave opponent | OneFootball

With yellow being the identity of both clubs, Dortmund had to revert to a strange look of a full white jersey. They also endured a difficult start as Sundowns played with full confidence from the start of the match.

Tashreeq Matthews, who was the only change from their starting lineup in the win against Ulsan HD, called Gregor Kobel into action in the sixth minute. Matthews spent years in Dortmund’s academy, but he had never managed to feature for the first team. Five minutes later, they did open the scoring, benefiting from Dortmund’s disjointed defensive setup.

Brazilian midfielder Lucas Ribero avoided support from his teammate as he treaspassed Dortmund’s entire defense before a composed finish to beat the onrushing Kobel. If it wasn’t clear ahead of kickoff, that sends the clear signal for the challenge Dortmund are facing in Cincinnati’s difficult weather.

They had to match Sundowns’ intensity, and that shift immediately bore fruit as Felix Nmecha capitalized on Ronwen Williams’ glaring mistake to put Dortmund level in the 16th minute. South Africa’s starting goalkeeper, who made a name for himself after penalty-kick heroics in the 2023 AFCON, did prevent Serhou Guirassy from completing the comeback three minutes later.

However, Dortmund’s spell was a short-lived one. The underdogs once again posed a consistent threat in Dortmund’s box, but they lacked precision in their final decisions. And, they’re punished again for losing possession on their own half.

Pascal Groß made a brilliant interception to kickstart a quick one-two between Julian Brandt and Guirassy. The captain put it on a plate for the Guinean striker as Williams was unable to make a save this time. It was a ninth headed goal in Dortmund colors for Guirassy.

Brandt was involved again when Williams intercepted his dangerous cutback to the direction of Jobe Bellingham. The Englishman scored his first goal for Dortmund with a clever finish as Dortmund raced to an undeserved 3-1 half-time lead.

However, Williams had to make a save from another Guirassy header in the final minute of injury-time. Dortmund clearly struggled with the heat as they made an unusual decision to have their substitutes watch the game from the dressing room in the first-half.

And, they also had a slow start to the second-half with Sundowns creating clear-cut opportunities through Iqraam Rayners and set-piece specialist Teboho Mokoena. Luckily for Niko Kovač’s side, they scored again with their first sight in Sundowns’ box when Khuliso Mudau scored an own-goal trying to intercept Daniel Svensson’s delivery.

Shortly after, Rayners scored his second goal of the tournament to make it 4-2 following his initial effort was denied by the crossbar. In an end-to-end encounter, both teams had more chances to add to the scoreline before substitute Lebo Mothiba reduced the deficit to 4-3 in the 89th minute.

Sundowns pushed for a historic goal to make it 4-4, but Dortmund managed to see out the result in the added six minutes. New signing Bellingham won the “Superior Player of the Match” in his first start for Dortmund.

Brazilian outfit Fluminense will play Ulsan HD later tonight in hopes of joining Dortmund at the summit with four points. Dortmund will stay in Cincinnati as they also play the final group stage game against the team from South Korea at TQL Stadium.