Dortmund kill Napoli in style
29 Nov 2013 4:01 AM IST
Last season’s finalists Borussia Dortmund breathed life into their hopes of reaching the Champions League knock-out phase with a nervous 3-1 home win over Napoli on Tuesday.
An early Marco Reus penalty and second-half strike by Jakub Blaszczykowski put Dortmund 2-0 up with an hour gone before Lorenzo Insigne pulled one back for Napoli with 20 minutes left.
Replacement Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came on to grab Dortmund’s third, 12 minutes from time, to calm nerves and put Borussia level on nine points with Napoli in the group behind leaders Arsenal.
The victory at Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion avenged Borussia’s 2-1 defeat at Napoli in September and gives them hope of reaching the last 16 following their 1-0 home defeat by Arsenal three weeks ago.
With the Gunners three points clear, who will qualify from Group F will now be decided by the final round of pool matches when Dortmund travel to Marseille and Napoli host Arsenal in a fortnight
Having lost his entire back four to injury, Borussia coach Jurgen Klopp moved defensive midfielder Sven Bender to centre-back alongside Greece international Sokratis with his first-choice pairing of Mats Hummels and Neven Subotic ruled out. Dortmund got an early breakthrough when Federico Fernandez hauled down Poland striker Robert Lewandowski in the area and Germany’s Reus stepped up to drill home the penalty after 10 minutes.
Dortmund desperately needed a second goal to calm their nerves and there were anxious glances at Westfalenstadion when Gonzalo Higuain was put clear in the area, but Weidenfeller blocked his half volley. Less than a minute later, Borussia grabbed their second when Dortmund swept forward on the counter-attack. Reus broke down the left and found Poland winger Blaszczykowski unmarked to slot the ball between Reina’s legs with a first time shot on 60 minutes.
Rafael Benitez’s Napoli got back in the game with a superb goal on 70 minutes after Higuain pounced on a loose pass and with Weidenfeller off his line, Insigne fired home from a tight angle. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but the Gabon winger found the net soon after. Jack Wilshere scored two goals, the first after only 27 seconds, as Arsenal beat Marseille 2-0 on Tuesday to move to within touching distance of the Champions League last 16.
Wilshere rewarded Arsenal’s dominance with a second goal in the 65th minute, after Mesut Ozil had seen a penalty saved, to leave Arsene Wenger’s side three points clear of Borussia Dortmund and Napoli at the top of Group F. Ajax gave their chances of qualifying for the Champions League last 16 a huge boost as they beat Barcelona 2-1 on Tuesday despite playing almost the entire second-half with 10 men.
First-half goals from Thulani Serero and Danny Hoessen had the hosts well in command at the break.
However, Barca were back in the game minutes after the restart as Joel Veltman was sent off for bringing down Neymar inside the area and Xavi converted the resulting spot-kick. Barca then pressed for an equaliser, but failed to breakdown a stubborn Ajax backline as they slipped to a first defeat in any competition this season. AC Milan kept their Champions League hopes alive with a 3-0 thrashing of Celtic that ended a miserable five-game winless run and sent the Scottish side crashing out of Europe.
The win leaves Milan in second spot on eight points - a point ahead of Ajax - and eases the pressure on coach Massimiliano Allegri.
Chelsea reach last 16 despite losing 0-1
BERLIN: Chelsea reached the last 16 of the Champions League despite going down to a 1-0 defeat to Basel in Switzerland on Tuesday, Mohamed Salah scoring the only goal with just three minutes remaining.
Salah latched on to a long ball forward by Fabian Schaer and outpaced Branislav Ivanovic as he cut in from the left before finishing past Petr Cech to hand the hosts a thoroughly deserved victory and keep their hopes alive, of joining Chelsea in the Last 16, heading into the final round of matches.
It was Basel’s second win against the Premier League club in this season’s competition and propelled them into second place in the group above Schalke 04, who only managed a goalless draw away to Steaua in the other match.
An early Marco Reus penalty and second-half strike by Jakub Blaszczykowski put Dortmund 2-0 up with an hour gone before Lorenzo Insigne pulled one back for Napoli with 20 minutes left.
Replacement Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came on to grab Dortmund’s third, 12 minutes from time, to calm nerves and put Borussia level on nine points with Napoli in the group behind leaders Arsenal.
The victory at Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion avenged Borussia’s 2-1 defeat at Napoli in September and gives them hope of reaching the last 16 following their 1-0 home defeat by Arsenal three weeks ago.
With the Gunners three points clear, who will qualify from Group F will now be decided by the final round of pool matches when Dortmund travel to Marseille and Napoli host Arsenal in a fortnight
Having lost his entire back four to injury, Borussia coach Jurgen Klopp moved defensive midfielder Sven Bender to centre-back alongside Greece international Sokratis with his first-choice pairing of Mats Hummels and Neven Subotic ruled out. Dortmund got an early breakthrough when Federico Fernandez hauled down Poland striker Robert Lewandowski in the area and Germany’s Reus stepped up to drill home the penalty after 10 minutes.
Dortmund desperately needed a second goal to calm their nerves and there were anxious glances at Westfalenstadion when Gonzalo Higuain was put clear in the area, but Weidenfeller blocked his half volley. Less than a minute later, Borussia grabbed their second when Dortmund swept forward on the counter-attack. Reus broke down the left and found Poland winger Blaszczykowski unmarked to slot the ball between Reina’s legs with a first time shot on 60 minutes.
Rafael Benitez’s Napoli got back in the game with a superb goal on 70 minutes after Higuain pounced on a loose pass and with Weidenfeller off his line, Insigne fired home from a tight angle. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but the Gabon winger found the net soon after. Jack Wilshere scored two goals, the first after only 27 seconds, as Arsenal beat Marseille 2-0 on Tuesday to move to within touching distance of the Champions League last 16.
Wilshere rewarded Arsenal’s dominance with a second goal in the 65th minute, after Mesut Ozil had seen a penalty saved, to leave Arsene Wenger’s side three points clear of Borussia Dortmund and Napoli at the top of Group F. Ajax gave their chances of qualifying for the Champions League last 16 a huge boost as they beat Barcelona 2-1 on Tuesday despite playing almost the entire second-half with 10 men.
First-half goals from Thulani Serero and Danny Hoessen had the hosts well in command at the break.
However, Barca were back in the game minutes after the restart as Joel Veltman was sent off for bringing down Neymar inside the area and Xavi converted the resulting spot-kick. Barca then pressed for an equaliser, but failed to breakdown a stubborn Ajax backline as they slipped to a first defeat in any competition this season. AC Milan kept their Champions League hopes alive with a 3-0 thrashing of Celtic that ended a miserable five-game winless run and sent the Scottish side crashing out of Europe.
The win leaves Milan in second spot on eight points - a point ahead of Ajax - and eases the pressure on coach Massimiliano Allegri.
Chelsea reach last 16 despite losing 0-1
BERLIN: Chelsea reached the last 16 of the Champions League despite going down to a 1-0 defeat to Basel in Switzerland on Tuesday, Mohamed Salah scoring the only goal with just three minutes remaining.
Salah latched on to a long ball forward by Fabian Schaer and outpaced Branislav Ivanovic as he cut in from the left before finishing past Petr Cech to hand the hosts a thoroughly deserved victory and keep their hopes alive, of joining Chelsea in the Last 16, heading into the final round of matches.
It was Basel’s second win against the Premier League club in this season’s competition and propelled them into second place in the group above Schalke 04, who only managed a goalless draw away to Steaua in the other match.
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