Munich: Borussia Dortmund’s Andre Schuerrle came off the bench to snatch a late goal as they twice came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw with Champions League holders Real Madrid in a compelling Group F encounter, Tuesday. But even then Real will feel good about their night’s job at Dortmund as they scored two away goals.
Germany international Schuerrle lashed the ball high into the net from inside the area to level in the 87th minute after Raphael Varane had restored Real’s advantage in the 68th.
The France defender’s goal made up for an earlier slip that allowed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to cancel out Cristiano Ronaldo’s 17th minute opener towards the end of the first half.
The hosts made an electric start at the Westfalenstadion after Ronaldo tested goalkeeper Roman Buerki with an early free-kick as Gonzalo Castro and Aubameyang each shot straight at Real stopper Keylor Navas and Ousmane Dembele fired over.
Just as a Dortmund opener looked inevitable, Real struck from a perfectly executed counter-attack involving Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale which Ronaldo finished off by shooting the ball into the far corner.
Thomas Tuchel’s side stuck with their game plan of pressing Real Madrid high and hitting them with lightning speed, although their equaliser came from a free-kick. Navas, making his first appearance of the season for Real, weakly punched Raphael Guerreiro’s shot at teammate Varane and the ball trickled towards the goalline where it was helped across by Aubameyang.
The home side kept up the tempo after the break, although Real also grew in confidence. Bale and Benzema wasted chances before Varane put Zidane’s side ahead again, tapping home after Benzema had crashed a shot against the bar.
Meanwhile in another game played on the night, Leicester City forgot their domestic struggles to secure a second successive Champions League victory as Islam Slimani tormented a familiar foe by grabbing the only goal in a 1-0 win over Porto.
Leicester sit top of Group G with six points after Slimani headed powerfully home from a Riyad Mahrez cross in the first half for his sixth goal in his last four matches against Porto, having joined Leicester from Sporting Lisbon in August.
In Moscow, it was the turn of Son Heung-min to score his fifth goal in as many games to give Tottenham Hotspur a 1-0 win over CSKA Moscow in their Group E clash.
Despite missing five key players, Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino was still able to name a strong line-up as Spurs played their first ever Champions League match in the Russian capital.
The first half was a close affair with both sides missing a couple of chances. Tottenham continued to press after the break and took the deserved lead after 71 minutes through the in-form Son. The South Korean international just managed to get enough power on his shot to take it past Akinfeev.
Reuters
