Serhou Guirassy scored twice as Borussia Dortmund beat Sabah 2-1 in Baku on Tuesday to get their Champions League campaign moving again. The Guinea striker struck after 10 minutes and again early in the second half, either side of an Aden McCarthy header, as Niko Kovač's side survived a genuine scare from the Azerbaijani champions at the Baku Olympic Stadium.
Guirassy strikes first in Baku
Dortmund arrived in Azerbaijan under pressure. Kovač's side had beaten Villarreal 3-2 on the opening matchday but then lost 1-0 away to Bodø/Glimt, and a long trip to face a Sabah side that had beaten Slavia Prague 2-0 at home last week was exactly the kind of assignment that has tripped them up in Europe before.
For 10 minutes, at least, they looked in no mood for drama. Dortmund started brightly, with Guirassy, Felix Nmecha and Fabio Silva all getting efforts on target in the opening exchanges, and on 10 minutes Guirassy fired the visitors in front. Joey Veerman then tested Sabah goalkeeper Stas Pokatilov with a free-kick from the edge of the box that was saved just before the line, as BVB Buzz's half-time report recorded.
McCarthy levels, Guirassy decides it
Sabah, hemmed into their own half for long spells, carried a threat on the counter — and their persistence paid off from a set-piece. Tymoteusz Puchacz whipped in a free-kick and Aden McCarthy rose to head home for 1-1 on 39 minutes. The hosts then came forward twice more before the break, only for Gregor Kobel to save both efforts and keep Dortmund level at half-time.
The winner came early in the second half. On 53 minutes Guirassy struck again, showing smart movement at the back post to guide Joey Veerman's brilliant pass into the net on the volley. As The Times' live coverage noted, that makes it 26 goals in 23 Champions League starts in Dortmund colours for the 30-year-old — a remarkable return that is carrying this team through the league phase.
Dortmund shuffled their side late on — Jobe Bellingham, Marcel Sabitzer and Maximilian Beier all came on — and Sabah threw on fresh attackers of their own, but there was no second equaliser and no red card on a night when the favourites' quality in both boxes told. It finished 2-1, and the away end could finally breathe.
So what: Dortmund up to six points, Sabah still in the fight
This win lifts Dortmund to six points from three league-phase matches — the Villarreal victory, the Bodø/Glimt defeat and now three hard-earned points in Baku — and puts Kovač's side firmly back in the hunt for a top-eight finish and automatic qualification for the last 16, rather than the play-off detour. Just as importantly, it ends a run of four straight Champions League away defeats that had hung over this team.
Sabah stay on three points, from that famous win over Slavia, and their league-phase story is far from over — but the road hardens. They travel to Viking on Matchday 4 on Wednesday 4 November before Barcelona visit Baku later that month. Dortmund host Real Betis on Matchday 4, after a Bundesliga trip to Bayern Munich on 31 October, and Wednesday's card shows the standard at the top end, where Bayern Munich face Arsenal in the week's biggest tie.
Beyond the Final Whistle: this was not Dortmund at their fluent best, and Kovač knows it — but Champions League league phases are survived on nights exactly like this one, far from home against inspired underdogs. When Dortmund needed a finisher, Guirassy delivered twice, and 26 goals in 23 European starts for the club is elite company by any measure. Sabah can hold their heads high; Dortmund simply had the one player nobody else on the pitch could match. Is Guirassy now the most underrated striker in the Champions League? Let us know in the comments.
