bundesliga

Donyell Malen at the double as Dortmund beat Manchester United in Las Vegas

31.07.2023

Donyell Malen scored twice as Borussia Dortmund beat a Manchester United side featuring former player Jadon Sancho 3-2 at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Manchester United 2-3 Borussia Dortmund
Goals: 1-0 Dalot 24' (assist: van de Beek), 1-1 Malen 43' (assist: Adeyemi), 1-2 Malen 44' (assist: Sabitzer), 2-2 Antony 52' (assist: van de Beek), 2-3 Moukoko 71' (assist: Reus)

Having won 6-0 in their opening friendly of their US tour against San Diego Loyal, Dortmund showed the same kind of attacking verve throughout an even affair in a city world famous for its entertainment, Las Vegas. Manchester United had the better of a slow start to the game, with Diogo Dalot dispatching a long-range effort to put them ahead midway through the opening period. After the Bundesliga runners-up withstood further pressure, a double retaliatory blow just before the break sparked the encounter into life. Donyell Malen smashed Dortmund level after Karim Adeyemi poked the ball to him in acrobatic style, a minute before Marcel Sabitzer capped a promising debut against his former side by threading a lovely pass through to Malen to grab a half-time lead.

BVB were buzzing at the start of the second period, with Sebastien Haller and Adeyemi both having early chances to extend the lead. Antony was able to pounce on a misplaced Mats Hummels pass to pull the Premier League side level against the run of play. A flurry of substitutions injected a new sense of energy into the affair, and two players introduced from the Dortmund bench combined to put them ahead again. Marco Reus played a neat one-two with Julian Brandt before supplying Youssoufa Moukoko for Dortmund's third. Substitute goalkeeper Alexander Meyer then pulled off two good stops against Marcus Rashford and Joe Hugill to give the Black and Yellows a win that must encourage them as they move closer to starting their 2023/24 Bundesliga campaign.

Match stats

Dortmund have won all five of their pre-season friendlies this summer with an aggregate score of 21-5.
Former captain Reus has been their most prolific scorer so far with four.
Julian Brandt was Dortmund's most productive attacking outlet last season with nine goals and eight assists from midfield.
Sancho hit 38 goals and 51 assists in four seasons with Dortmund before moving to Man Utd in 2021.
New Dortmund signing Sabitzer spent the second half of last season on loan at Man Utd from Bayern.
Dortmund beat United 1-0 home and away in the semi-finals of the 1996/97 UEFA Champions League, which they won. They haven't met competitively since.

Teams

Man Utd: Heaton - Dalot, Maguire (c), Lindelof, Williams - Eriksen, McTominay, Forson, van de Beek, Pellistri - Sancho
Subs: Onana, Bishop, Antony, Onana, Martinez, Evans, Shaw, Rashford, Fernandes, Mount, Wan-Bissaka, Casemiro, Hugill, Fernandez, Gore, Hannibal
Out: Diallo (ankle), Greenwood (suspended), Henderson (thigh), Mainoo (ankle), Malacia (muscular) Martial (hamstring)
Coach: Erik ten Hag

Dortmund: Kobel - Ryerson, Süle, Hummels, Wolf - Sabitzer, Can (c), Brandt - Malen, Haller, Adeyemi
Subs: Meyer, Kirsch, Lotka, Özcan, Bensebaini, Reus, Moukoko, Meunier, Hazard, Bamba, Pohlmann, Besong, Papadopoulo, Blank
Out: Bynoe-Gittens (shoulder), Coulibaly (not included), Duranville (hamstring), Morey (muscular), Reyna (leg), Schlotterbeck (knee)
Coach: Edin Terzic