Dortmund into last 16 draw after Sporting draw
Source:Â http://richportaltv.com
Borussia Dortmund clinched their spot in the Champions League last 16 after a goalless draw against Sporting in the second leg of their knockout play-off tie.
Serhou Guirassy, Pascal Gross, and Karim Adeyemi gave the German team a convincing 3-0 victory in Lisbon last week, making the return leg a formality.
Dortmund were dominant and had the chance to break the deadlock when they won a penalty in the second half after Rui Silva’s challenge on Adeyemi, but the Sporting goalkeeper made amends by keeping out Guirassy’s spot-kick.
The hosts, who lost last season’s final to Real Madrid at Wembley, will face Aston Villa or Lille in the two-legged last-16 tie next month.
Sporting, league leaders in Portugal by two points, were a big disappointment and never looked like clawing back the deficit.
They made five changes for the return leg with their top scorer Viktor Gyokeres and winger Francisco Trincao not even in the travelling squad, while Niko Kovac named an unchanged Dortmund starting line-up.
Sporting showed little intent going forward and it took 27 minutes for the game to produce its first shot on target as Dortmund midfielder Marcel Sabitzer let fly a venomous strike from the edge of the box that was parried behind by Silva.
As a quiet first half came to an end, Guirassy, who leads the Champions League with ten goals this season, next blasted directly at Silva before Sabitzer sent another effort sailing past the net.
The Sporting custodian was tested by Adeyemi immediately after the restart and then saved superbly from Daniel Svensson before he stopped Guirassy’s low 58th-minute penalty.
Giovanni Reyna, fresh off the bench, then hit the post for the home side, while captain Emre Can had a close-range header ruled out for offside as new boss Kovac remained winless at home after two games.