Soccer

Benfica take advantage of misfiring Dortmund side

Greek striker Kostas Mitroglou grabs goal as German side miss hatful of chances

Benfica’s Kostas Mitroglou celebrates scoring their first goal in the Champions League round of 16 first leg against Borussia Dortmund at Estadio da Luz in Lisbon. Photograph: Pedro Nunes/Reuters/Livepic

Tue Feb 14 2017 - 22:17

Benfica 1 Borussia Dortmund 0

Benfica beat a misfiring Borussia Dortmund 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie in Lisbon on Tuesday thanks to forward Kostas Mitroglou’s 13th goal in his last 13 games.

Greece international Mitroglou flicked the ball into the net to open the scoring in the 48th minute as Benfica, who have now not conceded a goal at home for 383 minutes, prevented the competition’s best attack from scoring.

Dortmund, who had netted a record 21 times in the group stage, missed a second-half penalty through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who also squandered several other scoring chances on a night to forget for the Gabon striker.

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The two sides will meet in Dortmund for the second leg on March 8th.

Benfica, who had striker Jonas ruled out just before kick-off, got off to an explosive start but Dortmund began to dominate possession and gradually slowed the game down.

The visitors, looking to counter their lacklustre domestic form with European success, missed a huge chance when Aubameyang, the Bundesliga's leading scorer, fired over the bar after an outstanding through ball from Ousmane Dembele in the 10th minute.

Benfica captain Luisao was making his 500th club appearance and was kept busy at the heart of the Benfica defence, with Dembele sneaking into the box and forcing a superb save from keeper Ederson in the 23rd.

Aubameyang then missed another good opportunity before the break and Benfica were quick out of the blocks again after the restart with Mitroglou doing well to control a Luisao header and beating keeper Roman Buerki with a quick flick.

Aubameyang almost drew Dortmund level in the 53rd and then had a penalty, awarded for a hand ball on the hour, saved by Benfica’s Brazilian goalkeeper.

Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel put Aubameyang out of his misery by substituting him soon after and following a sensational save from Ederson with six minutes left, the hosts held on to celebrate victory.

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