Haaland sinks former club, Potter era starts with sputter

Erling Haaland faced his former club Borussia Dortmund for the first time on Wednesday. The world-class striker spent two-and-a-half years with the German team before heading to Manchester City this summer. Although it took time for the Norway international to make an impact on the night, Haaland eventually scored the winning goal of the match.

Erling Haaland strikes blow to former club

Jude Bellingham put Dortmund ahead with a fantastic header early in the second half. Manchester City then scored two goals in four minutes to collect the win. Defender John Stones hit a rocket into the net for the equalizer, then Haaland finished off his former club. The striker did not celebrate his goal out of respect for Dortmund. He now has 13 goals in just eight matches in all competitions this season.

Chelsea struggle against Salzburg

The Graham Potter era did not get off to a winning start. Chelsea drew against RB Salzburg at Stamford Bridge in Potter’s first match in charge. The Blues dominated for much of the match, but could not grab more than one goal. Raheem Sterling scored the opener just a few minutes into the second half. With help from some sketchy defending inside the box, Sterling put a nice curling finish into the net.

Salzburg, however, fought back and leveled the scoreline 27 minutes later. Noah Okafor continued his hot streak by scoring his sixth goal in his last seven matches. The Switzerland international finished off a lethal counter attack to take a point back to Austria. Substitute Armando Broja could not capitalize on a huge chance in added time to give Potter his first win with Chelsea.

Different stories for Serie A clubs

Juventus continued their slump with a 2-1 loss at home to Benfica. The Old Lady have now only won once in their last seven matches. The Italian giants started well, thanks to a goal by Arkadiusz Milik inside four minutes. This time it counted. However, the Portuguese club then scored twice to take all three points. Juve has now allowed multiple goals in three consecutive games.

Veteran goalkeeper Alan McGregor saved two penalties (only one will technically count), but he could not save Rangers from a 3-0 defeat to Napoli. Piotr Zielinski failed to convert both shots. The penalty had to be retaken after Matteo Politano encroached into the penalty box. Politano ended up taking Napoli’s third penalty of the night and converted it. The Serie A club scored two more times thanks to goals from Giacomo Raspadori and Tanguy Ndombele.

PHOTO: IMAGO / Sportimage