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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Mark Jones

Erling Haaland's shirt swap after final Dortmund game of the season perfectly sums him up

Erling Haaland took part in an unconventional shirt swap after Borussia Dortmund's final game of the Bundesliga season - and ended up in the referee's kit.

The Norwegian bagged a brace as Dortmund signed off their campaign with a 3-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen, with long-serving defender Lukasz Piszczek bowing out of the club on his final professional appearance.

Haaland opened the scoring in the fifth minute of the match with his 40th strike in all competitions this season, with Marco Reus making it 2-0 just after half-time.

Shortly after Piszczek was substituted Haaland struck his second of the game, with Lars Bender scoring a consolation from the penalty spot for Leverkusen late on.

Erling Haaland swapped shirts with the referee after Dortmund's win (VSport1)

The after the match Haaland could be seen chatting to veteran Bundesliga referee Manuel Grafe, who was officiating in his final ever match.

The pair swapped shirts, giving Grafe a prized souvenir from his last game, with Haaland then seen posing with Grafe and his team of officials in the referee's kit.

The move has echoes of Haaland signing an autograph for assistant referee Octavian Sovre in the Etihad Stadium tunnel after Dortmund's 2-1 defeat to Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-final last month.

The incident left City boss Pep Guardiola baffled at the time, and Sovre was even criticised by pundits for an apparent lack of professionalism, but it later emerged that the Romanian official was collecting autographs of famous players to auction off for charity that helped provide therapy for autistic people.

Haaland posed with his new shirt and the team of officials (Pool via REUTERS)

Haaland was more than happy to help, as he was for Grafe on an emotional day for the referee.

Dortmund's 3-1 success ensured that they finished the Bundesliga season in third place, 14 points behind champions Bayern Munich.

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