The former Sunderland star scored on his full debut for Borussia Dortmund in the Club World Cup
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Jobe Bellingham scores for Borussia Dortmund against Mamelodi Sundowns
Jobe Bellingham has got his Borussia Dortmund career off to a flying start.
After impressing off the bench against Fluminense, with German media enthusing about his impact, the 19-year-old marked his first start for the club since his £30m move from Sunderland with a debut goal.
Bellingham scored 45 minutes into his full debut - a 4-3 defeat of Mamelodi Sundowns in the Club World Cup. After timing his run perfectly, Jobe cushioned the ball away from his marker before firing past the goalkeeper, albeit with the help of a slight deflection.
It capped a fine display on his full debut, but the former Sunderland midfielder said it was the culmination of hard work at the Academy of Light.
"It's a really nice bonus. I am glad we won but there are still a lot of things for me to improve on personally and for the team. I am really pleased with it," Bellingham told Dazn.
"I practise that so many times, not that exact finish, but arriving late on the edge of the box as a midfielder is something you need to be really good at.
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"If you can score, if you can contribute those kind of goals a certain amount per season then you are doing really well.
"I was really pleased because it was something I practised as a kid and at Sunderland so many times, during training, after training. So yeah, I am really proud of it."
Bellingham scored 11 goals for Sunderland in 85 appearances, and knows it is part of his game he can continue to develop. He will look to emulate brother Jude, who also netted on his debut for Dortmund before going on to score 24 goals in 132 games for the German giants.
However, it was another England goalscoring midfielder who the youngster was compared to after his Club World Cup exploits.
"It's easy sometimes as a midfielder to just pass the ball then stand still," former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel told Dazn.
"But no, he wants to arrive late in the box. He wants to be there when the ball drops.
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"He reminds me of a certain player I played with, Frank Lampard. 20-odd goals every season by being there and arriving at the right time. I think he's going to score a lot of goals for Dortmund.
"What I like about him is he's very direct. Once he has the ball he's looking up, he's passing forwards, running forwards. He wants to arrive at the box at the right time, and that's exactly what he did.
"The chest control and the volley - he wouldn't have scored this goal if he hadn't passed and then run forwards."