Luuk de Jong converted a penalty to cancel out a goal by his former teammate Donyell Malen as PSV Eindhoven and Borussia Dortmund drew 1-1 on Tuesday in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 matchup. Malen scored against his old club in the 24th minute with a shot that appeared to deflect off the outstretched leg of defender Sergiño Dest.
Malen didn’t wildly celebrate his first Champions League goal since December 2021, instead holding both hands in the air almost apologetically. The goal was a familiar sight for the PSV fans. Malen scored 50 times in 81 appearances for the Eindhoven club from 2018-21. The crowd at PSV Stadium gave Malen a warm ovation when he was substituted late in the match.
De Jong equalized when he calmly slotted a low penalty past Alexander Meyer in the 56th minute after Mats Hummels had brought down Malik Tillman. It took De Jong’s Champions League goal tally to a PSV record nine, one more than Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Dortmund players complained bitterly that Hummels had played the ball, but referee Srdjan Jovanovic waved away their protests. “The referee judged that there was a penalty,” said Dortmund coach Edin Terzic. “Our wish remains that he should look at the screen. He was very sure of his decision. We think it was a hard decision.”
Hummels himself was less diplomatic. “Zero percent a penalty. Zero. I slide in, I clearly play the ball, change its path and only then make minimal contact,” the defender told Amazon Prime. “Tillman was laughing himself silly on the pitch, (Johan) Bakayoko was laughing himself silly, they were all grinning at me for minutes.”
Dest came close to snatching a late winner when he passed Julian Ryerson on the left but Meyer, a late replacement for the injured Gregor Kobel, saved his shot.
“In the second half we had it completely under control,” PSV midfielder Joey Veerman said. “In the first half we had the better chances. If you look at the match as a whole we had better chances than Dortmund.”
The second leg is in Dortmund on March 13. “If we can win our home game, we’ll get through and that’s the task for now,” Terzic said.
De Jong also said he was confident heading to Dortmund. “We played well today and we can do that there, too,” De Jong said.
PSV, led by former Dortmund coach Peter Bosz, finished second behind Arsenal in Group B to reach its first Champions League round-of-16 match in eight seasons. Dortmund underlined its European pedigree by topping Group F, leaving Paris Saint-Germain in second place.
Dortmund was without striker Sébastien Haller who scored the winning goal as Ivory Coast beat Nigeria 2-1 to win the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this month. Haller, who also scored the winner in the semifinal, returned from the tournament with an ankle injury.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/Soccer