Borussia Dortmund’s new signings on Friday proved their class in a hard-earned 3-1 win over promoted SC Freiburg.
Substitute Raphael Guerreiro scored his second goal in two matches to seal the victory in injury time against a well-organized team that keeps dropping and returning to the Bundesliga.
Along with the win and more goals — 20 in the past four games — Dortmund also tied a club record by staying undefeated in 24 straight home matches.
Photo: AP
Dortmund’s highly-talented 19-year-old wingers, Ousmane Dembele and Emre Mor, tormented Freiburg’s defense in the first half. Mor hit the crossbar with a sublime shot, while Dembele’s speedy dribbling entertained the fans.
With time running out in the first half, Mario Goetze began the move that led to Dortmund’s first goal, feeding Dembele at the edge of the area. Dembele took a couple of steps forward and then slipped a perfect pass to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at the far post and the Gabon striker slid to tap the ball home.
While Aubameyang began celebrating his fifth goal of the season, other Dortmund players piled on Dembele, whose skill created the goal.
Dortmund appeared to have secured victory when veteran Poland defender Lukasz Piszczek netted in the 53rd. Gonzalo Castro’s low cross was badly cleared and Piszczek stepped up to score his second in two matches.
However, Freiburg got back into the match through Maximilian Philipp’s cool finish in the 53rd.
Aubameyang hit the post from close range before Guerreiro scored in the second minute of stoppage time following the best move of the match. Aubameyang and Castro played successive back-heel passes that caught the Freiburg defense flat-footed, and Guerreiro slotted home from inside the penalty area.
Guerreiro, who won the European Championship with Portugal, was signed by Borussia in the summer, along with Dembele and Mor.
Borussia have 12 points from five matches, tied with Bayern Munich, who play this weekend.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
CHANCE TO QUALIFY: Both teams now have three points from two games, and Taiwan sit ahead of Vietnam and behind Japan, who last night beat India 11-0 Taiwan yesterday defeated Vietnam 1-0 to move into second place in Group C at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup with one match remaining. Su Yu-hsuan scored the decisive goal in the 26th minute after Taiwan midfielder Saki Matsunaga’s shot hit the crossbar, leaving Su to nod the rebound into an empty net for the team which won the last of their three Asian Cup titles in 1981. It was a deserved victory for Taiwan, 2-0 losers to Japan on Wednesday, who created several chances to extend their lead. Vietnam, the 2022 quarter-finalist, beat India in their opener, but struggled to