BVB leave it late to claim first Champions League win | OneFootball

Borussia were eager but not decisive enough in a first half overshadowed by the substitution and concerns over Konstantinos Karetsas. In the 24th minute, the Greek raised his arm during an attack, then went to ground and covered his face with his arm. He was treated for several minutes by two doctors before being carried off the pitch on a stretcher. Circulatory problems were diagnosed as the cause. The Greek then went to hospital for further examinations.

BVB – with two changes compared with the match in Hoffenheim – had two half-chances early on (Sabitzer was blocked, Guirassy missed Beier’s cross), but after that there was a lot of dead time in the game. Villarreal defended deep in a 5-4-1 block. It was only shortly before half-time that Borussia were able to build up pressure and then created chances through Ethan Nwaneri, whose shot was blocked (44), and Serhou Guirassy, who rounded goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi but still could not get the ball past him (45+1).

The second half began with a “body check” by Mourino on Felix Nmecha in the penalty area, but the referee’s whistle stayed silent. In the 51st minute, Nwaneri was stopped from getting his shot away by Gueye after Nmecha’s pass – but the defender slid the ball onto the right post. Two minutes later, Beier broke down the left, got the better of Mourino, whipped a sharp cross in from the byline, and Gulacsi deflected the ball onto Veiga’s upper arm, from where it crossed the line for 1-0.

Villarreal changed shape, made attacking substitutions and pushed for the equaliser. Kobel, who had only been seriously tested once in the first half when he made a fine save from Buchanan (41), now had to distinguish himself several times. He tipped Santi’s shot behind for a corner (65). Mikautadze delivered it to the near post, where Mourino beat Ryerson in the aerial duel and headed into the near corner. Shortly afterwards, Kobel denied Buchanan to prevent it becoming 1-2 (68).

Niko Kovac’s substitutions turned the game back in the right direction. Fábio Silva forced Gulacsi into a save seconds after coming on (76). And after a through ball from Bellingham from the right into the penalty area, Silva raced through and squared left into the six-yard box for Guirassy, who stretched out a long leg to force it over the line (80). Gulacsi prevented the decider against Fabio Silva (83). Guirassy took care of that two minutes later from the penalty spot after being dragged to the ground by Mourino following a corner. In stoppage time, Kobel parried a free-kick in Guirassy’s direction – an unfortunate own goal…

The next Champions League match is not for another five weeks: on 14 October, BVB travel to face Bodø/Glimt in Norway. Before that, there are three Bundesliga matches: next Saturday at home to Paderborn, a week later in Stuttgart, and against Bremen on the second weekend of October.

BORUSSIA DORTMUND – FC VILLARREAL 3:2 (0:0)

Villarreal: Gulacsi – Mourino, Navarro (83 Alassane), Veiga, Cardona (46 Freeman) – Santi, Gueye – Saliba (59 Pepé) – Buchanan (75 Diatta), Mikautadze, Oluwaseyi (59 Moleiro)Bench: Gomez, Junior; Costa, Macia, Akhomach, Ayoze, Gerard

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.