What would Borussia Dortmund be without Erling Haaland?

As long as the Bundesliga top scorer scores as he wants, BVB can also afford his lack of concentration on the defensive.

After the next gala for the 21-year-old at 4-2 (2-0) against Union Berlin on Sunday, BVB coach Marco Rose immediately sent an announcement to the competition: "If he still has the quality, then Ui-Ui - then have fun with all the others who are still waiting for us. "

What was meant was Haaland's newly developed strength in the header game. As in the 4: 3 spectacle last week at Bayer Leverkusen, the Norwegian hit against Union again with a head to 2: 0 (24th minute). It was only his fourth of now 47 Bundesliga players - in 48 games - per head. "He has many strengths and even works on his weaknesses," said defense chief Mats Hummels.

Of course, Haaland's Lupfer from the run to the final score was even more grandiose.

Just two minutes after the long harmless capital city club had turned a 3-0 down to 3-2, the striker calmed the nerves of the 25,000 spectators, teammates and coach Rose.

“This goal contained everything that distinguishes him as a player,” said Rose after the dream goal: “That is will, quality, there is commitment.” Before that, the opponent also capitulated.

"That is the brutal effectiveness, certainly also the quality," said Union keeper Andreas Luthe.

Tied with Lewandowski

With seven goals from five games, Haaland is now level with Robert Lewandowski from FC Bayern in the Bundesliga scorers list.

He is already clearly leading the scorer list with eleven points.

"Erling is simply a goal machine," said the impressed Hummels and prophesied: "He will consistently be one of the three best strikers in the world for the next 15 years."

Club boss Hans-Joachim Watzke and sports director Michael Zorc should watch Haaland's form with satisfaction.

In the summer they had strictly insisted that they would not give up the Norwegian, who was being watched by all the top European clubs, even if the offer was high.

Fortunately for the new coach Rose and BVB.

Because without Haaland it would look bleak. Dortmund have already conceded eleven goals this season - far too many for a club with these ambitions. For comparison: FC Bayern, with whom BVB would so much like to compete, are only one point ahead of Westphalia, but have only conceded four goals. Without Haaland's goals, Dortmund would have only scored three instead of nine points from the last three games. “We made it unnecessarily exciting again. We have to work on that as quickly as possible, ”said captain Marco Reus. “You can't keep up with it in the long run.” For now, however, Haaland continues to play in Dortmund and makes the difference.