Birthday boy Carney Chukwuemeka (23) was one of four new faces in the starting line-up: Ramy Bensebaini, Joey Veerman and Fabio Silva also came in, replacing Maximilian Beier, Joane Gadou, Jobe Bellingham and Ethan Nwaneri (all on the bench). Coach Niko Kovac also changed his tactical approach, switching to two strikers (Guirassy and Fabio Silva) in a 3-2-3-2 formation, with Chukwuemeka centrally behind the forwards and Felix Nmecha pushing forward from the holding midfield pair.
In the fifth minute, Serhou Guirassy played his strike partner through with a defence-splitting pass. Fabio Silva held off Zedadka in the foot race but could not beat the goalkeeper with his shot. Seconds later, the Portuguese forward tried his luck from the edge of the penalty area.
Borussia dominated the opening stages (69 per cent possession) and took the lead with their fourth attempt on goal. Nico Schlotterbeck started the move with a switch of play to Julian Ryerson on the right wing. Linking up with Fabio Silva, Chukwuemeka kept his composure in the penalty area and laid the ball back to Nmecha, whose powerful shot from 16 metres was parried by Sabah goalkeeper Stas Pokatilov straight to Guirassy's feet. He made no mistake from five metres out, scoring his 22nd Champions League goal (10').
Pokatilov struggled to keep out Joey Veerman's free-kick from exactly 16 metres (24'). After half an hour, Borussia led the shot count 9-3 and had registered more than two expected goals (2.15 xG), but they were not without their defensive errors. A tight offside decision in Borussia's favour ruled out an equaliser from Joy-Lance Mickels, who had found the net following an excellent solo run by Parris (30'). Nine minutes later, the ball was in the net again, and this time Sabah's equaliser stood: Puchacz delivered a free-kick into the six-yard box, where centre-back Aden McCarthy beat several Borussia players in the air and powered home an unstoppable close-range header. Gregor Kobel then denied Simic (42') and Parris (45') to keep the scores level at the break.
The 1,800 travelling BVB fans among the 47,221 spectators at the National Stadium were able to celebrate their side retaking the lead in the 52nd minute. Guirassy showed superb technique to convert Veerman's whipped cross from deep on the right to make it 2-1. Stretching out his left leg, he volleyed the ball into the net. Dortmund controlled the game from then on, creating a few openings around and inside the opposition penalty area, though not many. There was also another scare at the other end: after a misplaced pass from Schlotterbeck, a chipped ball found Mbina, who fired wide, helped in part by a slight nudge from Daniel Svensson (75').
Kovac had made a triple substitution shortly beforehand: Nmecha, Chukwuemeka and Bensebaini left the pitch, with Bellingham, Sabitzer and Gadou providing fresh legs after the strains of travelling over the previous few days. Shortly afterwards, Beier replaced Svensson (77').
Borussia, playing in all yellow, had to work hard for the win. The game remained in the balance as Dortmund's control of possession waned. With a final shot count of 22-12, however, the victory was ultimately deserved.
SABAH FC – BORUSSIA DORTMUND 1-2 (1-1)
UEFA Champions League, Matchday 3
Sabah: Pokatilov – Zedadka, Solvet, McCarthy, Puchacz – Rakhmonaliev (81' Khaybulayev), Lepinjica – Parris (65' Mbina), Du Queiroz (65' Isaev), Simic – Mickels (81' Nwachukwu)Bench: Mirzammadov, Ramazanov; Dashdamirov, Almeida, Mutallimov, Fernandes, Severina, Aliyev
BVB: Kobel – Anton, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini (72' Gadou) – Ryerson, Veerman, Nmecha (72' Bellingham), Svensson (77' Beier) – Chukwuemeka (72' Sabitzer) – Guirassy, Fabio Silva (90'+1 Nwaneri)Bench: Drewes, Meyer; Mane, Reggiani, dos Santos, Albert, InacioUnavailable: Can (torn cruciate ligament), Karetsas (ankle), Konstantelias (torn cruciate ligament), Lerma (muscle injury)
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