Dortmund return to form with 4-0 Champions League victory over Villarreal
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DORTMUND - Borussia Dortmund ended a three-match winless run with a decisive 4-0 triumph over 10-man Villarreal in the Champions League on Tuesday, powered by a double from Serhou Guirassy.
The Guinean striker broke the deadlock in stoppage time before the break, heading home from a corner, and he made it 2-0 in the 54th minute.
Villarreal's Juan Foyth was sent off for handling a goal-bound strike by Karim Adeyemi to concede a penalty and although Guirassy's initial effort from the spot was saved by keeper Luiz Junior, the forward was quickest to react and slotted home the rebound.
Three minutes later, Dortmund added a third through Adeyemi from inside the box while Daniel Svensson wrapped up the win with a header from the last move of the match.
The result lifted Dortmund to fourth in the standings with 10 points from five matches, level with Chelsea and Manchester City. Villarreal, meanwhile, are third from bottom with one point.
After a 3-3 draw with Stuttgart in the Bundesliga on Saturday, on the back of another draw with Hamburg and a humbling 4-1 defeat at Manchester City in their previous European outing, Dortmund found themselves under pressure.
However, they delivered an inspired performance at Signal Iduna Park to stay on track for a top-eight finish and an automatic qualifying slot.
Villarreal manager Marcelino set up his side defensively, leaving key attacking players Gerard Moreno, Ayoze Perez and Georges Mikautadze on the bench.
Opting for a compact midfield with three defensively-minded players, the visitors frustrated Dortmund for large portions of the first half and threatened on the counter through Canadian winger Tajon Buchanan and Santi Comesana, with Nicolas Pepe supplying incisive passes.
Yet, in first-half added time, Dortmund breached Villarreal's resistance. From a corner that caused chaos in the box, the ball fell to Guirassy at the far post, who nodded it over the line from close range to hand his side a crucial lead.
Guirassy doubled Dortmund's advantage with his 12th goal in nine Champions League home matches – and his third in this season's competition.
Three minutes later, Adeyemi got a slice of luck to add Dortmund's third. Breaking into the box, he played a one-two with Julian Brandt, whose backheeled pass deflected off a defender and ricocheted off Adeyemi's leg, looping over the goalkeeper in a bizarre arc into the net.
Substitute Fabio Silva had a golden opportunity to make it 4-0 in the 81st minute after Adeyemi was fouled in the box by Sergi Cardona, but his thunderous penalty struck the crossbar.
It wasn't until stoppage time that Svensson put the finishing touches on Dortmund's win, heading home from a Pascal Gross cross in the 95th minute. REUTERS
