Cometh the hour, cometh Borussia Dortmund's young USMNT star Gio Reyna: a match-winner worth his weight in Black-and-Yellow gold following his latest goalscoring exploits for the Bundesliga giants.

Reyna had never before scored off the bench prior to last weekend, but he did so twice in the space of three days to help earn BVB a highly-valuable six points from their last couple of top-tier tests.

The 20-year-old attacking midfielder lifted a delicious finish past Augsburg goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz in the 78th minute of Borussia's 4-3 win at Signal Iduna Park on Sunday in a game that enthralled all those who witnessed it.

The American followed that feat by prodding home a Sebastien Haller header from close range in the 93rd minute against Mainz on Wednesday, a goal that gave Dortmund a 2-1 win and saw them up to fifth spot in the standings, while making them only one of four sides to have won both of their Bundesliga games in 2023.

Watch: Highlights of Dortmund's win in Mainz

"When I came on [against Mainz], I wanted to make a difference,” Reyna told Dortmund’s official website. “We haven't performed well away recently [and] it hasn't always been nice to watch,” he added. “But we gave everything until the end. We made several important changes, worked hard and now things are moving in the right direction."

Reyna’s heroics saw BVB take their goals-from-substitutes tally to a league high eight so far this season while the talented attacker now has ten goals and seven assists across his impressive career in Germany’s top-flight.

"It's excellent for him that he got on the scoresheet with the winning goal once again and we hope he will continue in exactly the same vein," a satisfied Dortmund coach, Edin Terzic, remarked after the Mainz win.

About the players

7

Giovanni Alejandro

Reyna

Borussia Dortmund

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“We'd hoped that when it came to accelerating the play, [Reyna] would look to get the ball even more. The fact that he did his job at the back post from a set-piece is very positive,” the tactician added. "Gio didn't have an easy phase, he had to fight with injuries for almost one and a half years. He has scored the winning goal twice, is incredibly good in tight spaces, and can make quick decisions [although ] he's not at 100 per cent yet."

It all adds up to a huge release for a player who made just 10 Bundesliga appearances last season due to several morale-sapping injury issues. He has appeared in BVB’s last eight Bundesliga games this term and has scored four times during that run, matching his previous season-best haul back in 2020/21 (when he managed four goals in 32 games).

The USMNT attacker – capped 16 times by his country – will now be hoping to make an impact against the in-form Bayer Leverkusen, whom Dortmund visit on Sunday. With Xabi Alonso’s side having won their last five Bundesliga matches, Reyna and Die Schwarzgelben will need to be at their very best as they seek to silence the BayArena.

About the clubs

Bayer 04 Leverkusen

BayArena