20 January 2024 , 19:29
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Borussia Dortmund striker Niclas Fullkrug has explained why he refused to let Jadon Sancho take a penalty which was won by the Manchester United loanee during their 4-0 victory over Koln on Saturday.
Sancho, 23, thought that by winning the foul he'd given himself the perfect chance to score his first goal for Dortmund since returning to the German club until the end of this season. The £73million winger, who fell out with United boss Erik ten Hag, pleaded with Fullkrug: "Give me the ball, give the ball," but the Germany international blanked him and took it himself.
Fortunately for Dortmund, Fullkrug scored and made it 2-0. Sancho, who up until that point had enjoyed an impressive second full debut for the Bundesliga heavyweights, was subbed off by manager Edin Terzic a mere eight minutes after the incident.
Post-match, former Werder Bremen hero Fullkrug - who didn't play alongside Sancho during his first spell between 2017 and 2021 - told Sky Germany: "Actually, we also have a small ranking. Normally I'm at the top with Marco (Reus) and Emre (Can)."
The 30-year-old then offered his support to Sancho, adding: "Jadon would definitely have converted it, too. He really wanted to score his first goal for Dortmund again. That's coming next week."
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Boss Terzic also backed the United loanee pre-match, saying after selecting him as part of Saturday's starting line-up: "He did really well when he came in last week [registering an assist against Darmstadt]. He really had very good results in training, too. He deserves to start with his good performances in training and his short-term assignment last week."
The German-Croatian coach, who's been under pressure in recent weeks, revealed on Thursday: "It's true that Jadon arrived here in good condition, yet we also know how the past few weeks and months have gone for him - and thank god he wasn't injured [against Darmstadt].
Your turn! Should Jadon Sancho have taken the penalty? Give us your stance in the comments section.
There were no hard feelings between Niclas Fullkrug and Jadon Sancho (Mika Volkmann/Getty Images)"We're happy about every training session, and he's happy to be back on the pitch, and he's done well this week. We tested him and Ian [Maatsen, the left-back on loan from Chelsea] again on Tuesday to get their results, and they were both outstanding - and we're happy about that."
Sancho will be hoping to get his first goal since returning to Dortmund when they welcome Bochum next Sunday. The 23-year-old, who's also hoping to represent England at Euro 2024, scored 50 goals and laid on 64 assists across 138 matches during his first spell.