Christian Pulisic and Borussia Dortmund draw with Los Angeles FC
Christian Pulisic played his first ever club game for Borussia Dortmund on American soil on Tuesday as his side were held to a 1-1 friendly draw against Los Angeles FC.
Los Angeles FC 1-1 Borussia Dortmund
Goals: 1-0 Kovar (77'), 1-1 (Philipp 87')
Yet for all the pre-match build-up on Pulisic, the hosts began determined to make the teenager's return to his homeland as uncomfortable as possible, hounding their visitors high up the pitch and quickly snapping into tackles. They created a number of promising opportunities too, with Laurent Ciman testing Roman Weidenfeller with a swerving free-kick from distance and Diego Rossi firing just wide after an excellent run. The visitors, despite fielding a strong side that included Mario Götze, Jadon Sancho and Andre Schürrle, were a yard off the pace in the first 45 minutes and failed to seriously test the home side.
Both teams made several substitutions in the second half, which disrupted the flow of the encounter somewhat, although the match did come to life again in the closing stages. LAFC eventually got the breakthrough their performance deserved when Aaron Kovar flicked in at the near post from a left-wing cross. Affronted at going behind, Peter Stöger's side clicked into gear and levelled the score shortly before full-time thanks to Maximilian Philipp's well-struck shot from the edge of the box, and could have had a late winner, only for Alexander Isak to fire wide after an excellent team move.
Match stats
- The contest was Dortmund's first of four fixtures on American soil this summer, with games against Manchester City, Liverpool and Benfica to follow in July.USA international Pulisic joined Dortmund as a 16-year-old in 2015. A year later, he was promoted to the senior team for whom he has since played in 97 competitive matches, scoring 12 goals and setting up a further 20.Dortmund full-back Jeremy Toljan is eligible to play for the USA by virtue of his American father.The match was Stöger's final outing as Dortmund head coach, and Roman Weidenfeller's last as BVB goalkeeper.
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Line-ups
Los Angeles: Miller (Lyon 46') - Blackmon, Ciman (c) (Brewer 51'), Jakovic (Harvey 73'), Moutinho - Atuesta (Murphy 73'), Feilhaber (Nguyen 29'), Kaye (Mallace 46') - Vela (Kovar 26'), Rossi (Czornomaz 60'), Diomande (Blessing 26')
Unused substitutes: Roberts
Absentees: Lopez (broken leg), Ureña (facial surgery)
Coach: Bob Bradley
Dortmund: Weidenfeller (c) (Reimann 46') - Toljan, Sokratis (Gomez 73'), Zagadou, Schmelzer - Sahin, Götze (Castro 46') - Pulisic (Isak 55'), Sancho (Yarmolenko 46'), Schürrle (Dahoud 46') - Philipp
Unused substitutes: Weigl
Absentees: Akanji, Bürki, Guerreiro, Piszczek, Akanji, Reus (international duty), Toprak (thigh)
Coach: Peter Stöger
As it happened