English teen sensation Jude Bellingham just keeps getting better and scored a wonderful solo goal for Borussia Dortmund to rival recent similar efforts seen from Mohamed Salah and Lionel Messi.
Dortmund were without superstar striker Erling Haaland due to injury when they took on Arminia Bielefeld in the Budesliga, but didn’t miss the goal-scoring sensation thanks in part to Bellingham.
The 18-year-old helped BVB to a 1-0 lead when he was taken down for an Emre Can penalty with half an hour played, and he later put the game to bed with an extraordinary effort.
Receiving the ball on the edge of the box from captain Marco Reus, Bellingham faked to curl a shot inside the far right post, before darting past a startled Bielefeld defender.
The Three Lions regular then took on two more players, before dinking the goalkeeper and putting the game to bed.
The goal is yet more proof of his rapid progression.
When Bellingham joined the German club in 2020, they saw him as a long term investment who would take a while to come into his own, Norwegian football journalist Lars Sivertsen recently talkSPORT’s Kick Off.
“They [Dortmund] saw him as an unpolished diamond who they could mould into a top midfielder,” he explained, “Someone who had all the ingredients.
“But he came in and he was almost ready from day one.”
It was a game high on quality with Mats Hummels’ earlier goal rivalling Bellingham’s effort as he blasted a first time volley in from the edge of the box to give his side a 2-0 lead.
Bielefeld scored a late consolation from the spot, but were unable to stop Dortmund from keeping pace with Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich.
Dortmund trail Bayern by just a single point despite the reigning champions dismantling Hoffenheim and Bayer Leverkusen in their past two league games.
It hasn’t been all good news for Dortmund though, who were utterly humiliated in the Champions League last time out as they were played off the park by Ajax during a 4-0 defeat.
Manager Marco Rose was also dealt a blow when it emerged that Haaland will be out for a few weeks with a hip flexor injury, despite only recently returning from a previous setback.