Goal in Lisbon grants Serhou Guirassy entrance to elite Borussia Dortmund strikers' club
Serhou Guirassy was on target again for Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League, finding the back of the net in a 3-0 victory at Sporting Lisbon. The striker's headed finish not only broke the deadlock in the game, but also granted him access to an elite goalscorers club at the Black-and-Yellows.
Dortmund had struggled to break Sporting down inside the first hour of the first leg of their UEFA Champions League knockout play-off in Portugal. But who better to give Die Schwarzgelben lift-off than their talismanic striker Serhou Guirassy? The Guinean rose highest to latch onto a brilliant Julian Brandt cross, towering over the Sporting defence as his header looped over Rui Silva, who stood rooted to the spot.
Dortmund’s No. 9 was already the joint-top scorer in the Champions League this season with nine goals (level with ex-BVB and Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski for Barcelona). However, his opener at the Estádio José Alvalade propelled the 28-year-old into the undisputed lead, whilst also making him only the third Dortmund player to have ever scored 10 goals in a single UCL campaign.
The other two? The very same Lewandowski (in the 2012/13 season in which Dortmund finished as Champions League runners-up to Bayern), and Erling Haaland (in the 2020/21 season in which BVB were ousted at the quarter-final stage by Manchester City).
Not only has Guirassy scored 10 goals in nine Champions League games this term, he’s also recorded three assists in the competition. With 13 goal involvements over 655 minutes played, that’s a goal contribution every 50.4 minutes.
For comparison, Lewandowski, over the course of that entire, previously mentioned UCL campaign, registered 10 goals and two assists in 13 games, averaging out to a goal involvement every 91 minutes (1090 minutes played), whilst Haaland registered 10 goals and two assists in his eight Dortmund games, averaging out to a goal involvement every 58.8 minutes (706 minutes played).
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Niko Kovač can only hope his deadly forward can maintain this form going forward, both in the Champions League, and domestically, if he’s to get Dortmund’s season back on track, and the new BVB coach was certainly pleased with what he saw of Guirassy and his team in Lisbon.
"I have to say that the team played a fantastic game in the second half and deservedly won. We showed physicality, (great) mentality and aggressiveness," the 53-year-old enthused.
Dortmund host Sporting in their play-off second leg at the Signal Iduna Park next Wednesday, when Guirassy will be eager to add to his impressive numbers.
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