Of all games, BVB star marks bizarre first in his 100th | OneFootball

Borussia Dortmund suffered a bitter setback in Hoffenheim. For BVB midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka, however, there was still a special moment.

For Carney Chukwuemeka, Borussia Dortmund’s away match at TSG Hoffenheim became a memorable moment – despite the 1-2 defeat. The 22-year-old was on the pitch for the full 90 minutes for the first time in his professional career. Of all times, in his 100th competitive appearance, he experienced this unusual first.

The statistic behind it seems almost unbelievable: in his previous 99 professional matches, Chukwuemeka had always either come on as a substitute or been substituted off. Neither at Aston Villa, Chelsea, nor in Dortmund had he previously played a match from start to finish. It was only in Sinsheim that the midfielder was on the pitch both at kick-off and at the final whistle.

The reasons lie in the course of his career so far. At Aston Villa, he was carefully developed as a young talent; later at Chelsea, strong competition and several injuries prevented his breakthrough. Overall, he also missed numerous competitive matches during that time. Since his move to BVB last summer – for around €20 million – he has featured regularly, but has mostly remained a rotation player or impact substitute.

BVB star Carney Chukwuemeka plays a full match for the first time

This is also reflected in the numbers for the current season: 35 appearances with three goals and two assists sound solid, but his playing time of just over 1,200 minutes is well below that of the regular starters. In Dortmund’s midfield, players like Felix Nmecha, Jobe Bellingham and Marcel Sabitzer clearly top the internal ranking, while Chukwuemeka sits behind them.

Photo: IMAGO

Overall, the Vienna-born player with Nigerian roots has now made more than 50 competitive appearances for Dortmund; before that, he played 32 times for Chelsea and 16 times for Aston Villa. At the same time, he has also made an important international decision: after appearances for England’s youth teams, he switched associations and now represents Austria. On his debut, he scored straight away in the emphatic win over Ghana.

So it remains a game of mixed emotions: a sporting setback for Dortmund in the battle for Champions League qualification, but personally a long-overdue milestone for Chukwuemeka.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.