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Jadon Sancho wins a penalty as Dortmund beats Cologne 4-0 in the Bundesliga

Sat, Jan 20, 2024
Soccer News (AP)

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) - Jadon Sancho is picking up where he left off at Borussia Dortmund.

Sancho won a penalty in a 4-0 win over Cologne on Saturday, his first start for Dortmund since 2021. He arrived on loan from Manchester United last week, after having not played since August, and set up a goal against Darmstadt two days later.

Donyell Malen gave Dortmund the lead in the 12th as a Dortmund corner routine fooled the Cologne defense, giving the Dutch forward time and space to hit a low shot.

Sancho won a penalty in the 56th when he dribbled at the Cologne defense and drew right back Rasmus Carstensen into pulling at his shirt. Niclas Fullkrug stepped up to score the penalty. Sancho's role in the Dortmund forward line brought back memories of his last season in Germany in 2020-21, when he scored 16 goals and set up 20 more in all competitions before moving to United.

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Malen scored the third soon after thanks to decisive play from Dortmund's other loan signing from the Premier League. Full back Ian Maatsen, newly arrived from Chelsea, won the ball in his own half and swung a long pass for Malen to run through the Cologne half and score.

Sancho went off for fellow English player Jamie Bynoe-Gittens in the 66th. Bynoe-Gittens set up a goal in stoppage time with a cross for Youssoufa Moukoko to score Dortmund's fourth.

Dortmund stays fifth with the victory. Cologne is 17th in the 18-team league and winless in its past five games.

Elsewhere, Eintracht Frankfurt let a two-goal lead slip in a 2-2 draw with local rival Darmstadt. Ten-man Freiburg beat Hoffenheim 3-2, Roland Sallai scoring the winning goal shortly after his teammate Manuel Gulde was sent off for a second booking. Heidenheim and Wolfsburg drew 1-1.

Stuttgart was a surprise contender in the first half of the season, going into the winter break third, but has now started 2024 with two losses after a 1-0 defeat at Bochum.

The game was delayed for around 40 minutes at halftime amid a dispute between stadium staff and Stuttgart fans over banners which Bochum said were blocking emergency exits. Matus Bero scored for Bochum shortly after the game resumed.

League leader Bayer Leverkusen visits Leipzig later Saturday aiming to maintain its unbeaten record.

Games across Germany on Saturday were interrupted as fans protested against plans to sell a stake in future TV and marketing income to investors in exchange for an up-front payment.

Fans were silent for the opening 12 minutes of games as a reference to their role as the proverbial 12th player on a team. Dortmund's game was interrupted twice as fans of both teams threw golden foil-wrapped chocolate coins onto the field.

Clubs in the top two men's divisions narrowly voted to proceed with the sale plan last month despite long-running fan protests. The league is in talks with two private equity firms, Blackstone and CVC, and has said the share would be a maximum of 8% over 20 years.

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