Serhou Guirassy on Tuesday scored a goal and laid on another as Borussia Dortmund beat Atalanta BC 2-0 at home in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League playoff.
Despite a late arrival delaying kickoff and just one recognized centerback, Dortmund controlled the match from start to finish. The in-form Guirassy headed Dortmund in front early and then set up Maximilian Beier’s goal late in the first half to give the German side the advantage ahead of next week’s return leg in Italy.
“It was a perfect start, but a weird evening,” Guirassy told Amazon Prime. “We were in traffic for an hour and 15 minutes, and only had 10 minutes to get ready and get on the pitch after we arrived, so it was nice of course to get the header after three minutes.”
Dortmund midfielder Julian Brandt told reporters a 2-0 lead was “still dangerous” ahead of the second leg in Bergamo, Italy, but praised his side’s focus despite the pre-match setbacks.
“A lot is working for us now. Even in difficult situations, we’re managing it. We were able to convert the stress into energy when we started. It sharpened us up a bit today — but it shouldn’t become the norm,” Brandt said of the late arrival.
Atalanta arrived on time, but were out on their feet in defense and disjointed in attack, missing injured midfielder Charles de Ketelaere’s attacking spark.
Despite a run of six straight Bundesliga victories, Dortmund were hit with a defensive crisis, with Nico Schlotterbeck, Niklas Suele, Emre Can and Filippo Mane all out injured. Head coach Niko Kovac handed 18-year-old Luca Reggiani a first senior start alongside Germany defender Waldemar Anton, Dortmund’s last centerback standing.
Bursting back into form after a long dry spell with five goals in three games, Guirassy wasted no time continuing his streak. With three minutes gone, the Guinean nodded in a Julian Ryerson cross to give Dortmund the lead on three minutes.
Dortmund doubled their lead just before halftime when Guirassy delivered a pass across the face of goal for Beier to tap home.
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
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
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
RSS