Karim Adeyemi started to sprint in his own penalty area. The BVB striker picked up the ball 20 meters from the Dortmund goal and set off. At full speed, he sped across the pitch with the ball at his feet, passing Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez and putting the ball past goalkeeper Kepa. With his left foot, Adeyemi pushed the ball into the goal after 65 meters and 7.5 seconds to make it 1-0 for Borussia.
It was the only goal of the evening – after beating Chelsea 1-0 in the first leg of the round of 16, BVB has very good prospects of reaching the quarter-finals. “Everyone fought for everyone, it was a deserved win. I just thought I had to put the ball past. I’m very happy about the goal,” Adeyemi said.
Adeyemi is one of the factors behind the success of the past few weeks at BVB. After the World Cup break, Dortmund won all their games in the league, cup and Champions League. In the league, Borussia has regained contact with leaders Bayern with five wins. In four games, the 2-0 win in Bremen he was suspended, Adeyemi scored two goals and provided one assist.
In the eleven previous games, the striker, who came from Salzburg for 30 million euros in the summer, only managed one assist. He didn’t score a goal. Adeyemi has a simple explanation for his performance explosion: “New year, new luck. It’s a lot of fun right now.”
BVB coach Edin Terzic raved about Adeyemi’s goal. “That’s exactly the quality that we lacked in the first half of the season. He makes the goal really well. We also need him for the rest of the season,” said Terzic.
In addition to Adeyemi, Gregor Kobel was the guarantor of Dortmund’s victory. The goalkeeper held on to the lead in the closing stages with outstanding saves. “It’s good that we were able to win the game,” said BVB coach Edin Terzic. In the end, his team was lucky: “We know that we can rely on our goalkeeper when things get tight. Gregor Kobel is in an extraordinary form.”
