Haaland ends mini goal drought as Dortmund see off Bremen
DORTMUND: Erling Braut Haaland ended his mini goal drought with a double on Sunday as Borussia Dortmund fought back to floor Werder Bremen 4-1 in the Bundesliga and boost their bid to reach next season's Champions League.
Having failed to score in seven games over the last four weeks for Dortmund and Norway, Haaland converted a penalty and tapped home a second in the win at Signal Iduna Park.
Haaland claimed a club record with his ninth brace in the Bundesliga this season.
The 20-year-old could have completed a hat-trick after powering in a late header which was ruled offside, before Mats Hummels was credited with Dortmund's fourth goal.
Haaland has now scored 35 goals in all competitions this term.
Dortmund stayed fifth, but moved to within four points of fourth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt, who crashed to a 4-0 defeat at Borussia Moenchengladbach Saturday.
"We've got a second chance to qualify for the Champions League," Dortmund captain Marco Reus told Sky, who said his side was especially "up for it" after Frankfurt lost.
"We wanted to close the gap -that was our big goal today."
Dortmund bounced back from their Champions League quarter-final exit on Wednesday against Manchester City.
However, Bremen took a shock lead when a long ball found Milot Rashica, who outsprinted Hummels and fired past Dortmund goalkeeper Marwin Hitz on 14 minutes.
Dortmund fought back with three goals in nine first-half minutes.
The hosts drew level as 18-yearold US international Giovanni Reyna equalised on 29 minutes with a thunderbolt of a shot.
Five minutes later, Haaland converted a spot-kick after Dortmund captain Marco Reus was fouled in the area. on