Arsenal loanee Ethan Nwaneri played a key role as Borussia Dortmund staged a dramatic comeback to defeat Hoffenheim 3-2 in an entertaining Bundesliga encounter on Saturday.
Hoffenheim appeared in control for much of the opening hour and raced into a two-goal lead through Leon Avdullahu and Tim Lemperle.
Nwaneri, who became the youngest player in Premier League history, joined Dortmund on a season-long loan from Arsenal on transfer deadline day. He was introduced after 30 minutes following an injury to Filippo Mane.
Dortmund gradually turned the game around in the second half, with Serhou Guirassy pulling one back shortly after the hour mark.
Guirassy then turned provider five minutes later, setting up Fabio Silva to equalise as Dortmund completed a remarkable turnaround.
With just four minutes remaining in regulation time, Nwaneri made the decisive contribution. The teenager drove down the left before firing towards goal, with his effort taking a significant deflection off Hoffenheim defender Albian Hajdari and ending up in the net to give Dortmund a 3-2 victory.
Elsewhere, Bundesliga newcomers Elversberg continued their remarkable start to life in Germany’s top flight with a thrilling 4-3 victory away to Borussia Monchengladbach.
Gladbach twice took the lead before establishing a 3-1 advantage midway through the second half. However, Elversberg mounted a stunning comeback despite losing manager Vincent Wagner to a second yellow card shortly before half-time.
Felix Keidel levelled the scores with 10 minutes remaining before Maurice Krattenmacher completed the comeback in stoppage time, scoring his second goal of the match to seal a 4-3 win.
Elversberg, a club from a town with a population of around 13,000, had already made headlines on the opening weekend by defeating reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen 3-2.
Leverkusen responded to that setback in emphatic fashion, thrashing Union Berlin 4-0 at home.
Argentina internationals Equi Fernandez and Facundo Medina put Leverkusen two goals ahead before half-time, while England defender Jarell Quansah set up Patrik Schick for the third.
Ibrahim Maza completed the rout with a stylish late finish as Leverkusen secured their first win of the campaign.
In another fixture, West Ham loanee Niclas Fullkrug continued his impressive return to Germany, scoring his second goal in three matches as Werder Bremen defeated RB Leipzig 3-1 at home.
Eren Dinkci and Marco Gruell were also on target for Bremen, while Fullkrug added a long-range header to help secure the victory.
Europa League finalists Freiburg maintained their perfect start to the season with a narrow 1-0 away win over promoted Paderborn.
Defending champions Bayern Munich were scheduled to face newly promoted Schalke later on Saturday.
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