Benfica beat Dortmund by 1-0
Kostas Mitroglou's goal
earned Benfica a 1-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of their
Champions League last-16 clash.
The former Fulham
striker poked home the only goal of the game, against the run of play, three
minutes into the second half of Tuesday night's match at the Estadio da Luz.
However, it was a night
to forget for much-hyped Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who saw a
penalty saved and missed two glorious chances before being substituted after 62
minutes.
And those costly misses
helped to ensure Portuguese champions Benfica are in the driving seat ahead of
the return leg in Germany on Wednesday March 8.
The away side dominated
for long spells, but their two key players in the absence of the injured Mario
Gotze - Aubameyang and 19-year-old Ousmane Dembele - failed to convert
presentable chances in the first half.
Aubameyang missed a
golden chance after 10 minutes when Dembele stole the ball in midfield and put
the forward clean through with a low, through-ball, but after taking a touch he
rifled wastefully over goalkeeper Ederson's bar.
Dembele was then denied
by a good block by Benfica defender Victor Lindelof on 23 minutes after being
presented with a close-range chance following good work from by Marco Reus and
Lukasz Piszczek.
The Bundesliga side were
made to pay for their profligacy three minutes into the second half when
Mitroglou opened the scoring.
Pizzi's corner was
headed down by Luisao and the unmarked Greek striker touched the ball in front
of a sprawling Roman Burki before bundling home from a yard at the second
attempt.
It was Benfica's only
genuine chance of the match and their supporters were cheering again five
minutes later when Aubameyang suffered his second shocking miss of the night.
Sokratis
Papastathopoulos found the striker in space on the penalty spot and he turned
with only the goalkeeper to beat, but shot over the bar.
Aubameyang was given a
chance to make amends from the penalty spot on 57 minutes when Ljubomir Fejsa
slid in on Marc Bartra with a hand raised and was correctly penalised for
handball.
However, Aubameyang's
penalty was hit straight down the middle with little power, offering goalkeeper
Ederson the chance to make a simple save.
And Dortmund boss Thomas
Tuchel responded in brutal fashion, substituting his striker minutes later and
replacing him with former Chelsea man Andre Schurrle.
Dortmund did little
after his departure, although Ederson made a brilliant save to his right to
deny Marcel Schmelzer's long-range effort six minutes from time.
Benfica's players and
fans were visibly delighted with a 1-0 win as the final whistle blew to confirm
Dortmund will not take an away goal into the return leg in three weeks' time.
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