'The best is yet to come!': Nelson makes his mark in Germany
October 20, 2018
Two English teenagers were among the goals in the Bundesliga this weekend. While Jadon Sancho has made the headlines with Borussia Dortmund, Reiss Nelson's development at Hoffenheim has been no less impressive.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Karmann
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The Brexit negotiations may be dragging on with little sign of an agreement in sight, but the uncertainty hasn't stopped some of Britain's best young footballing talent from taking the plunge and moving to Germany.
And after Oliver Burke's time with Red Bull in Leipzig didn't work out and Reece Oxford's loan spell with Borussia Mönchengladbach came to an end, two more British teenagers are enjoying life on the continent this season.
Jadon Sancho has captured the headlines since turning his back on Pep Guardiola and Manchester City to join Borussia Dortmund, and his third-minute strike against Stuttgart on Saturday was the eighth Dortmund goal he has been involved in already this season.
But Sancho was out-shone this weekend by a fellow English teenager as Arsenal loanee Reiss Nelson scored two goals in six minutes for Hoffenheim, taking his total for the season to four goals in four games.
First, he swiveled quickly inside the box to volley home Pavel Kaderabek's cut-back from seven yards out and draw Hoffenheim level away at Nuremberg. Then, just six minutes later, he was on hand to fire his side into the lead from a tight angle.
Two goals in six minutes: Nelson (right) wheels away after scoring his second against NurembergImage: Bongarts/Getty Images/A. Pretty
"Reiss Nelson the match-winner," headlined local paper Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung. "Nelson ends Nagelsmann's losing run," added tabloid BILD after three straight defeats to RB Leipzig, Manchester City and Eintracht Frankfurt.
It was good of Nelson to repay to the favor; after all, 31-year-old Julian Nagelsmann was one of the main reasons the 18-year-old Londoner decided to come on loan to Hoffenheim in the first place.
“A loan wasn’t always my first option, but when I heard the Bundesliga and Hoffenheim was an option for me and working with the manager there, it was something I wanted to do," he told the English football association's official website.
“Julian’s a great manager and he’s got belief in young players so it’s a good place for me to go and play. I think it’s important to go to a team and a coach who believes in you, so he was the main reason because he is willing to play us."
But Nagelsmann wasn't the only reason. Nelson grew up just 2.5 kilometers away from Jadon Sancho in central London, and the Dortmund youngster also had a word.
"I spoke to Jadon about Germany," Nelson told English media. "I'm a quick player and I'm good in one-on-one situations, and Jadon said that those situations occur a lot in the Bundesliga."
Nelson found himself in precisely such a situation on his Hoffenheim debut away at Fortuna Düsseldorf on Matchday 3. He had only been on the pitch for 14 minutes after coming on as a second-substitute when he used his pace to burst into the Düsseldorf box and fire home a left-footed equalizer.
Perfect debut: Nelson scored on his first appearance for Hoffenheim against Düsseldorf.Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Becker
"What he brings with his tempo and his one-on-one ability, we didn't have so much of that in the squad," said Nagelsmann. "Reiss is a player whose qualities can be compared to those of Serge Gnabry, but just not as well developed."
The Bundesliga is building on its reputation as the perfect place for that development to take place. Indeed, according to British media, all 18 Bundesliga clubs sent scouts to England's recent under-17 win over Brazil. But Nelson has already taken the biggest step.
"Reiss is totally unfazed and eager to learn," said Hoffenheim teammate and Bundesliga veteran Kevin Vogt at full-time in Nuremberg.
"I'm only just starting, and it's going well at the moment," said Nelson himself. "The best Reiss is yet to come."
Bundesliga matchday 8 in pictures
There were crushing wins for Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Borussia Dortmund, while Bayern Munich got back to winning ways in Wolfsburg. Werder Bremen also impressed while RB Leipzig were frustrated.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Becker
Borussia Mönchengladbach 4 - 0 Mainz
Dieter Hecking's men moved up to second with a clinical dismantling of Mainz. Jonas Hofmann finished off Thorgan Hazard passes either side of the break then completed his hat-trick after Hazard scored himself. That's 10 points from the last 12 for The Foals. Things couldn't be much more different for Mainz. The Zerofivers have two points from their last five and haven't scored in 450 minutes.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Becker
Stuttgart 0-4 Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund are the only remaining unbeaten team in the Bundesliga, and that never looked like changing away at struggling Stuttgart under new coach Markus Weinzierl. Jadon Sancho (pictured) gave the visitors the lead inside three minutes before Marco Reus and Paco Alcacer made it 3-0 after just 25 minutes. Max Philipp added a fourth as full-time approached to cap off a comfortable day.
Image: Imago/kolbert-press
Hertha Berlin 1 - 1 Freiburg
The hosts started strongly on Sunday, with Ondrej Duda's sixth of the season (pictured) completing a great move to give them an early lead. Pal Dardai's side were pegged back by a deflected Robin Koch strike just before the break. Freiburg had their chances but Hertha almost won it late on when Dardai's son Palko was fouled in the box, only for the penalty decision to be overturned by VAR.
Image: imago/Camera 4/T. Wiedensohler
Wolfsburg 1-3 Bayern Munich
Robert Lewandowski (second from left) scored twice as Bayern Munich ended a run of four games without a win. The champions were reduced to ten men in the second half when Arjen Robben was shown a second yellow card (the first for diving) before Wolfsburg pulled one back through Wout Weghorst. But James Rodriguez restored the two-goal cushion to relieve the pressure on coach Niko Kovac.
Image: Reuters/F. Bimmer
Schalke 0-2 Werder Bremen
Werder Bremen inflicted a sixth defeat in eight games on Schalke and moved up to second in the Bundesliga, behind Borussia Dortmund. Maximilian Eggestein struck twice for the Green and Whites either side of half-time against a wasteful Schalke side. Mark Uth saw a header cannon back off the crossbar in the closing minutes, but it was the closest the Royal Blues came.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/G. Kirchner
Nuremberg 1-3 Hoffenheim
Hoffenheim came from behind to inflict a first home defeat of the season on newly-promoted Nuremberg. Captain Hanno Behrens gave the "Club" the lead from the spot in an even first half but a quick-fire brace from English teenager Reiss Nelson (number 9, pictured) turned the game in the visitors' favor. Adam Szalai made it three for Julian Nagelsmann's side who moved up to eighth.
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/A. Pretty
Bayer Leverkusen 2-2 Hannover
Bayer Leverkusen left it late to come from behind for the second time in the match and rescue a point at home to struggling Hannover. Lars Bender cancelled out Florent Muslija's opener before the break but Felipe Martins restored the visitors' lead in the second half. The home fans had to wait until the 94th minute for Karim Bellerabi's equalizer but there were still boos at full-time.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Vennenbernd
Augsburg 0-0 RB Leipzig
In a match characterized by fouls and regular interruptions, both Augsburg and RB Leipzig settled for a point. The visitors thought they should have had a penalty when Jeffrey Gouweleeuw brought down Timo Werner in the box but the video assistant referee decided - four minutes later - that it wasn't a foul. RB captain Willi Orban came close in stoppage time but the match ended goalless.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Puchner
Eintracht Frankfurt 7-1 Fortuna Düsseldorf
Luka Jovic was the star of the show for Eintracht Frankfurt, who ruthlessly disposed of Fortuna Düsseldorf to move above Bayern into sixth in the Bundesliga. But this game was all about Luka Jovic, who scored five goals in a devastating attacking display. Jovic becomes the Bundesliga's top scorer with a total of seven, and the first Frankfurt player to ever score five goals in a Bundesliga game.
