Borussia Dortmund produced a remarkable turnaround to beat Hoffenheim 3-2 on Saturday, with Arsenal loanee Ethan Nwaneri playing an unlikely role in the decisive goal during a wild finish to the Bundesliga clash.
Hoffenheim dominated for most of the contest and led 2-0 by the 54th minute through Leon Avdullahu and Tim Lemperle, appearing well on course for victory. But Dortmund transformed the match in the final half-hour, scoring three times to snatch all three points.
Serhou Guirassy sparked the comeback just after the hour mark, pulling one back for the visitors before turning provider five minutes later to tee up Fabio Silva for the equalizer. The winning moment arrived in the 86th minute when Nwaneri, who had entered as a substitute after half an hour following an injury to Filippo Mane, cut inside from the left and struck a shot toward goal. The effort took a heavy deflection off Hoffenheim defender Albian Hajdari and looped into the net for an own goal, completing Dortmund's dramatic recovery.
Nwaneri, who made history in 2024 as the youngest player to appear in the Premier League, joined Dortmund on a season-long loan from Arsenal on transfer deadline day.
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga, newly promoted Elversberg continued their impressive start to top-flight life with a thrilling 4-3 victory at Borussia Mönchengladbach, moving to two wins from two games. Gladbach twice took the lead and were ahead 3-1 in the second half, but Elversberg fought back despite having manager Vincent Wagner sent off with a second yellow card just before halftime. Felix Keidel drew the visitors level at 3-3 with ten minutes remaining before Maurice Krattenmacher struck in stoppage time to complete the comeback.
Bayer Leverkusen bounced back from their surprise defeat to Elversberg the previous week by demolishing struggling Union Berlin 4-0 at home. Argentine internationals Equi Fernández and Facundo Medina put Leverkusen 2-0 up by halftime, before England defender Jarell Quansah teed up Patrik Schick for the third goal. Ibrahim Maza added a fine fourth late in the game to complete the rout.
West Ham loanee Niclas Füllkrug netted his second goal in three appearances since returning to German football, helping Werder Bremen defeat RB Leipzig 3-1 at home. The Germany international scored with a long-range header, while Eren Dinkci and Marco Grüll also found the net for Bremen.
Europa League finalists Freiburg maintained their unbeaten start to the campaign with a narrow 1-0 win away at newly promoted Paderborn, while defending champions Bayern Munich were set to face promoted Schalke later on Saturday.
In Spain, Athletic Bilbao delivered a statement performance with a 3-0 demolition of Atlético Madrid at San Mames, with goals from Nico Williams, Robert Navarro and Oihan Sancet sealing back-to-back victories under coach Edin Terzic following an opening-day defeat. Julián Álvarez, who had attempted to leave Atlético for Barcelona over the summer, made a substitute appearance after recovering from illness but had little impact.
Meanwhile in Italy, Torino came from behind to beat Fiorentina 2-1, with a late strike from Ché Adams securing the win in the 82nd minute. Mateo Pellegrino had given Fiorentina an early second-half lead before Rolando Mandragora, only recently signed by Torino from Fiorentina, equalized with a long-range effort. The result leaves Fiorentina bottom of Serie A after three straight losses by an aggregate score of 9-1, prompting jeers from their own supporters.
Based on reporting from Guardian Football.