Mkhitaryan wins February Goal of the Month with Derby gem
Cologne - Football purists may say there were technically more complicated goals scored in the Bundesliga in February, but for what 's goal meant - to him and his side - there was really no rival.
Emotional moment
The Armenian could hardly have timed his first goal of the season any better. His arrival into the box and onto the list of season scorers was perfection personified, and meant the world to the 26-year-old and most of the 80,000 others in the .
Mkhitaryan's eyes instantly glazed over and he almost fought back the tears as he was smothered by his team-mates and a conglomeration of emotion. What he had just done was enough to catapult him to legend status, if he was not already worthy of that billing from his first 18 months in a BVB shirt.
had poked Dortmund in front in the 146th Revierderby, but given their struggles in breaking down the FC Schalke 04 rearguard, there were still fears there may be a sting in the tail. Yet any concerns were laid to rest barely two minutes later, as Ilkay Gündogan ran into space on the right-hand side of the penalty area and delivered for Mkhitaryan to finish.
'It's a wonder they didn't flatten him'
Within Mkhitaryan's lunge in front of Schalke's Atsuto Uchida at the far post was all of his pent-up frustration at not having opened his account sooner, and he was up on his feet again in an instant to clutch the ball manically inside the net, the roar of the supporters fresh in his ears. Then, he was swamped by his ecstatic team-mates, and the overwhelming emotion.
"I think everybody wanted to jump on top of him. "It's a wonder they didn't flatten him!" said Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp. "We've kept on telling him how great he is and how important he is for us," added captain . "We're just delighted now that he can put his name in the statistics under goalscorers. He's already looking much more relaxed."
See Mkhitaryan's goal for yourself in this video, courtesy of the Bundesliga's official YouTube channel.
