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Manchester United loanee Jadon Sancho played the entirety of the second half as Borussia Dortmund were hammered 3-0 by Bundesliga rivals Mainz.
Dortmund started extremely badly as they let in three goals in the opening 23 minutes at Mewa Arena.
A strike from Leandro Barreiro and a brace from Lee Jae-sung were enough to sink Dortmund and bring them back to reality following their mid-week triumph in the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain.
Sancho, fresh from his heroics vs. PSG, was named on the bench by Edin Terzic. The Dortmund manager gave the nod to a wing-pairing of Jamie Bynoe-Gittens on the left and Donyell Malen on the right flank.
The United loanee was brought on after the break in place of Malen to try and make a difference but he couldn’t have the desired impact.
During the 45 minutes including added time that he was on the pitch, Sancho registered 43 touches of the ball.
He successfully found his teammates with 25 of the 29 passes he attempted, managing an individual pass completion rate of 86%.
The Englishman embarked on four dribbles but couldn’t complete any of them – a far cry from the quick and skilful feet he showed in both logs of Dortmund’s semi-final tie against PSG.
He failed to register a key pass, cross or even ping a long ball.
The 24-year-old also found it hard to test Robin Zentner in the Mainz goal and didn’t have a shot, either on-target or off-target to his name.
Sancho found himself largely outmatched defensively by the Mainz players, winning just two of the eight ground duels he engaged in. However, he successfully rose to the challenge in the air, prevailing in the single aerial duel he faced.
The forward lost possession of the ball on 11 occasions. He made just one interception.
(Stats obtained from Sofascore)
Sancho and Dortmund will undoubtedly be looking to redeem themselves and end the season on a high note when they take on Darmstadt on the final day of their Bundesliga campaign. There’s then the small matter of the Champions League final against La Liga giants Real Madrid.
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