At least for a short time, Steffen Tigges slipped into the role of a Haaland double.

In a similar manner to the injured Norwegian, the Dortmund substitute made the decision in the happy 2-0 (1-0) over 1. FC Köln and was celebrated for his first Bundesliga goal from the trembling south stand.

The 1.93 meter tall Tigges, comparable in stature to Haaland, could hardly believe his luck. “I can't get the smile off my face at all. My cell phone is sure to vibrate off the table soon ”, he said full of anticipation of the many well-wishers on the phone.

With a header in the 64th minute shortly after being substituted on, the U-23 player moved from the namelessness of the third division to the Bundesliga spotlight.

"Scoring my first goal in front of the south stand, I would not have imagined two years ago," enthused the 23-year-old.

The fact that he fulfilled his “childhood dream” against the club, which wanted to sign him last summer, made the whole thing even more headline-grabbing.

Coach Marco Rose immediately explained why BVB refused the offer from Cologne: “We are convinced that Steffen is in the right place with us.

He's a guy who can best replace Erling. "

"You didn't give it to me"

The football teacher is in good spirits that Tigges will continue to function as a possible replacement in the coming weeks without the injured Haaland: "I hope that the goal will really bring him forward and that we can develop him even further in Dortmund." A bit jealous guest coach Steffen Baumgart was already working when he reprimanded his Dortmund colleague and buddy Rose for his veto in the negotiations over Tigges: "You didn't give it to me."

It is thanks to goal scorers like Tigges and Thorgan Hazard (40th) that Borussia stay on track even without Haaland. With an impressive 24 points after ten match days, she consolidated second place behind league leaders FC Bayern. Only twice was there a better record with 25 points each at the time of comparison - the last time in 2013/14. "One point behind Bayern after ten match days, we can be satisfied with that," said licensed player boss Sebastian Kehl on Sunday on TV broadcaster Bild.

In view of the formidable yield so far, coach Rose generously overlooked the playful deficiencies of his team in the duel with Cologne and recalled the lack of at least nine ailing professionals: “When you see who is missing, I have to pay a big compliment to my team. How we manage to collect points in this difficult phase and advance in the cup. ”The future sporting director Kehl saw it similarly:“ We are weaving our way through this situation. And I am convinced that we will be even more stable when everyone is back on board. "

The sixth win in the sixth Bundesliga home game was only conditional as an encouragement for the envisaged Champions League revenge on Wednesday against Ajax Amsterdam two weeks after the embarrassing 0: 4 in the first leg. After all, Cologne were ahead in shots on goal (19: 7) and possession (56 percent). “We walked a lot. But in everything that happened to the ball, FC were the better team. That's why we're very happy with the win, ”said Rose.

FC coach Baumgart had less reason to be satisfied.

But the pride in the strong performance of his team consoled him over the frustration after only one point from three Bundesliga games.

However, he countered the many references to won game statistics with the quick-wittedness known to him: "But we didn't win the main statistics - 0: 2." Despite the recent negative trend, he sees his team on "a very good path".

“But I hope that the results will get better again,” said Baumgart.