Serhou Guirassy's brace sinks Sabah as wasteful Dortmund grind out 2-1 Champions League win in Baku

Guirassy double rescues Dortmund in Azerbaijan

Serhou Guirassy struck twice as Borussia Dortmund edged past Sabah FK 2-1 in an entertaining UEFA Champions League league-phase encounter in Baku, bouncing back from their defeat to Bodø/Glimt with a hard-fought victory that was far less comfortable than the scoreline suggests.

Borussia Dortmund celebrate a goal against Sabah FK in Baku

Dortmund travelled to Azerbaijan for their third Champions League league-phase fixture against a Sabah side that had beaten Slavia Prague 2-0 in their previous home outing in the competition. Both teams had been level on points in the table before kick-off. Ahead of the match, on 20 October, head coach Niko Kovač had labelled his side "the clear favourites" and demanded a response after a winless run and scoring drought.

Kovač rings the changes

Kovač made four changes from the side held to a goalless draw by Union Berlin, bringing in Fabio Silva, Carney Chukwuemeka, Joey Veerman and Ramy Bensebaini. Given a rare start, Chukwuemeka availed of Dortmund's initial dominance with a couple of neat passes in behind — two of which Guirassy and Silva should have done better with, the latter far too nonchalant with his finish from a one-on-one position.

Guirassy strikes early

Dortmund made the brighter start, with Silva twice forcing saves inside the opening six minutes. The visitors' pressure told on 10 minutes when Felix Nmecha fired at the keeper, and when Stas Pokatilov could only parry into the path of Guirassy, the striker slotted home from close range to put Dortmund ahead.

Serhou Guirassy of Borussia Dortmund in action during the Champions League match against Sabah

Sabah hit back before the break

Dortmund continued to threaten, with Veerman's free-kick and a follow-up from Chukwuemeka both tested by Pokatilov, while Steve Solvet picked up a first-half booking for a challenge on Nmecha.

Sabah grew into the contest, and after Joy-Lance Mickels had an effort ruled out for offside, the hosts drew level in the 39th minute when Tymoteusz Puchacz swung in a free-kick from the right and Aden McCarthy glanced a header past Gregor Kobel to make it 1-1 at the interval.

Guirassy restores the lead

Dortmund began the second half as they had the first. Within nine minutes of the restart, Veerman whipped a cross toward the back post where Guirassy finished first-time to make it 2-1 in the 53rd minute — "Guirassy's left boot meeting a Veerman cross with precision," as the decisive moment unfolded.

Sabah kept pressing forward and almost found a leveller when Orphé Mbina was played through one-on-one with Kobel but shot wide. The hosts introduced Mbina and Aleksey Isaev just past the hour.

Wasteful BVB survive a scare

Dortmund also had openings to extend their lead, with Chukwuemeka setting up Guirassy for a chance that was blocked by McCarthy at point-blank range. Kovač called upon Joane Gadou, Marcel Sabitzer and Jobe Bellingham, with Bellingham creating an instant chance that Silva spurned wastefully.

A late penalty claim against Dortmund's Nico Schlotterbeck was waved away, and the hosts could not find the goal that would have forced extra effort from Dortmund. With both Silva and Sabitzer finding space to kill the contest off but neither doing so, the Westphalians limped over the line to a 2-1 win — a result that ended their winless run but left questions over their clinical edge in the final third.