Serhou Guirassy absolutely lit up the National Stadium in Baku tonight, bagging two crucial goals to lead Borussia Dortmund to a gritty 2-1 victory over Sabah FC in their UEFA Champions League Matchday 3 clash. This was a hard-fought win, and Guirassy was the hero for BVB when they needed him most.
New Faces and Early Dominance, Then a Gut Punch
Man, BVB came out swinging! Coach Niko Kovac wasn’t messing around, throwing four new faces into the starting lineup and switching up the tactics to a 3-2-3-2 formation with two strikers, Guirassy and Fabio Silva leading the charge. Birthday boy Carney Chukwuemeka, Ramy Bensebaini, Joey Veerman, and Fabio Silva all got the nod. It looked like a stroke of genius early on. Just five minutes in, Guirassy showed his class, dropping a perfect defense-splitting pass to Fabio Silva, who just couldn’t quite beat the keeper. Seconds later, Silva tried again from the edge of the box, showing BVB meant business.
They dominated the opening stages, no doubt about it, with a whopping 69 percent possession. It wasn’t long before they broke through. Nico Schlotterbeck started the play, switching it to Julian Ryerson on the right. Ryerson linked with Fabio Silva, then Chukwuemeka kept his cool in the box, laying it back to Felix Nmecha. Nmecha’s powerful shot got parried by Sabah goalkeeper Stas Pokatilov, and who was there? Serhou Guirassy, five meters out, tapping it in for his 22nd Champions League goal in the 10th minute! You love to see it. BVB was up 1-0 and looked unstoppable, hitting 9-3 in the shot count and over two expected goals (2.15 xG) within half an hour. But then, the defense had a couple of lapses. A tight offside call saved them once, denying Joy-Lance Mickels an equalizer. But nine minutes later, Sabah got their goal. Puchacz delivered a free-kick into the six-yard box, and Aden McCarthy soared above several BVB players to power home an unstoppable close-range header. Gregor Kobel then had to make two crucial saves right before halftime to keep it level.
Guirassy’s Second Half Heroics and a Hard-Earned Win
Coming out of the break tied at 1-1, you just knew BVB had to find another gear, and boy, did Guirassy deliver! In the 52nd minute, Joey Veerman whipped in a cross from deep on the right, and Guirassy showed absolutely superb technique. He stretched out his left leg, volleyed the ball into the net, and put BVB back on top 2-1! That’s the kind of skill that wins you big Champions League games. From that point on, Dortmund pretty much controlled the game. They created some openings, though maybe not as many as they’d like, and worked hard to manage the lead. There was one more scare, though, when Schlotterbeck made a misplaced pass, and Mbina fired wide after a chipped ball in the 75th minute. Coach Kovac made some smart triple substitutions shortly beforehand, bringing in Bellingham, Sabitzer, and Gadou for Nmecha, Chukwuemeka, and Bensebaini, and later Beier for Svensson, getting fresh legs on the pitch after all that travel.
Playing in all yellow, Borussia had to grind out this victory. Their control of possession waned a bit towards the end, keeping the game in the balance, but with a final shot count of 22-12 in their favor, the win was definitely deserved. What a performance from Guirassy!
This was a massive win for Borussia Dortmund on the road, picking up crucial points in the Champions League. It’s all about building momentum in these group stage matches, and snatching a 2-1 away victory like this sets them up well for what’s next in their campaign.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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