GOAL reported that Borussia Dortmund loanee Ethan Nwaneri has had regular playing time under Niko Kovac but has yet to make a decisive attacking impact. When Dortmund face FK Sabah in the Champions League on Tuesday evening, he looks likely to go beyond the minutes total from his previous loan spell at Olympique Marseille.
Minutes total closing in on previous loan spell
GOAL reported that Nwaneri has featured regularly for Borussia Dortmund so far. GOAL reported that the 19-year-old attacking player has yet to impress.
Nwaneri needs 17 minutes in Azerbaijan to reach 412 for Dortmund, doing so in just eight matches rather than eleven.
Current output and the Union Berlin incident
So far, Nwaneri's statistics show only the action credited as an assist before Albian Hajdari's own goal in the 3-2 win at Hoffenheim on his debut.
In the recent 0-0 draw at Union Berlin, Nwaneri made a tackle after 14 seconds, and four seconds later referee Daniel Schlager showed him a red card, which he then changed to yellow.
Borussia Dortmund have scored 14 goals in eight Bundesliga and Champions League matches.
What Ricken and Kovac said
Lars Ricken, Dortmund's managing director for sport, said Nwaneri's performances had "been good so far". Ricken also said: "He is just missing a bit of a breakthrough to break the deadlock with a goal."
Ricken added: "We will need him and will therefore give him our full support, especially now that Karetsas will be out again."
Kovac described Nwaneri as "very good technically". In September, he said: "I am very, very pleased with him. He will be very important for us in the coming weeks and months."
Other selection news at Dortmund
Konstantinos Karetsas will be absent for Borussia Dortmund for some time.
In Berlin, Kovac gave 17-year-old Mathis Albert 20 minutes, his first appearance this Bundesliga season.