?Peter Stöger was full of praise for Michy Batshuayi after the Belgian international scored a brace on his Borussia Dortmund debut.

The 24-year-old striker put Dortmund into the lead on two occasions in their trip to the RheinEnergieStadion before André Schürrle scored the decisive goal late in the second-half to secure all three points against FC Köln.

Dortmund were winless in 2018 coming into the game and despite continuing to show defensive frailties, Batshuayi’s brace has gone some way to boost spirits and begin to fill the void left by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

That was an incredibly important win,” Stöger told Eurosport (via bvb.de“We didn’t start the second half of the season optimally, either in terms of points or football, so a negative outcome tonight would have definitely set tongues wagging. 

“Fortunately, that wasn’t the case and now we’re in the hunt for the European places. We held firm, it wasn’t a game for the faint of heart. The victory is good for us and obviously, it’s a dream debut for Michy, especially after the weeks of discussions.”

Borussia Dortmund now look ahead to their Bundesliga match against Hamburger SV at the Westfalenstadion next week, with their Europa League campaign, which starts against Italian side Atalanta, kicking off just days later.

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