Fábio Silva shines as Borussia Dortmund edge past Real Betis in UEFA Champions League
Borussia Dortmund fought their way to a 2-1 victory over Real Betis on Matchday 4 of their UEFA Champions League campaign, with Fábio Silva scoring one and making another.
Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Real Betis
Goals: 1-0 Silva 49’, 1-1 Ruibal 67’ (assist: Ezzalzouli), 2-1 Karetsas 72’ (assist: Silva)
Dortmund head coach Niko Kovač made three changes to the side that drew 2-2 in Der Klassiker at Bayern Munich over the weekend, restoring Ramy Bensebaini, Julian Ryerson, and Silva to the starting line-up in place of Joane Gadou, Maximilian Beier and Carney Chukwuemeka, all of whom dropped to the bench.
For Betis, former BVB defender Marc Bartra, who made 51 competitive appearances for Die Schwarzgelben between July 2016 and January 2018 and won the 2017/18 DFB Cup, began on the bench.
Early chances squandered at both ends
Dortmund created the better early chances, with Serhou Guirassy firing marginally wide on the end of a Ryerson cross in the third minute before firing over from inside the box just six minutes later.
The visitors then thought they had taken the lead in the 14th minute when Antony finished past Gregor Kobel, onky for the goal to be ruled out for a marginal offside against Troy Parrott in the build-up.
Shortly after, Daniel Svensson was denied by a fine reflex save from Álvaro Valles, who was in inspired form throughout for Betis, in the 21st minute.
Just past the half-hour mark, injury misfortune struck for Dortmund after Guirassy went down injured in the 31st minute. The striker was unable to continue and replaced by Konstantinos Karetsas.
Silva and Karetsas turn the tide
Dortmund broke the deadlock within four minutes of the restart. Jobe Bellingham's low shot was parried by Valles and Silva steered home the rebound from close range to open the scoring in the 49th minute.
However, Betis struck back in the 67th minute when Abde Ezzalzouli set up Aitor Ruibal, following a defensive error from Waldemar Anton, to finish past Kobel for parity.
Not dissuaded by the set-back, Dortmund responded immediately. In the 72nd minute, Silva picked the ball up on the turn around 35 yards from goal, before sliding a pass to Karetsas at the edge of the box. The midfielder simply picked his spot and hammered home into the bottom corner to restore his side's lead.
In the closing stages, Valles produced further saves to deny Bellingham and Karetsas, and Svensson missed the opportunity kill the game, but ultimately, Dortmund managed to see out the victory in a hard-fought contest and go 12th in the league-phase standings.
Next up for Kovač's charges in the Champions League is a trip to North London to take on Arsenal on 24 November.
