Wednesday night’s action proved fruitful for Portuguese goalscorers, with two Luso forwards battling it out as RB Leipzig overcame Celtic in one of the evening’s early matches. André Silva scored twice for Leipzig after Jota had scored what appeared a crucial equaliser, giving the Germans their first win in this season’s competition.
One of the standout results of the matchday was Borussia Dortmund’s commanding 4-1 victory over Sevilla in Spain. Raphaël Guerreiro set Dortmund on their way with the opener, scored in typically stylish fashion, as the German side put themselves in a strong position to qualify from Group G.
Leipzig met Celtic in Germany in what felt a key meeting in Group F, which is led by Real Madrid with a 100% record. The contest was well-contested but ultimately decided by André Silva, who has endured a difficult campaign so far with Leipzig. The former Porto man has seen playing time reduced since the arrival of Timo Werner and is yet to find the net in a Bundesliga game so far this season.
The hosts took the lead through Christopher Nkunku’s brilliant finishing midway through the first half, but Celtic found themselves level within a few minutes of the re-start thanks to Jota. The Portuguese was put through on goal by Kyogo Furuhashi and produced an expert left-foot finish across goal into the far corner to take his seasonal tally to five in all competitions.
Silva, who impressed on the night with some of his link-up play, then became the key figure in the game with two goals as Leipzig earned a deserved victory. The Seleção man had already struck the post after some lovely team passing before he restored Leipzig’s lead on 64 minutes with a simple finish after Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart had made a poor clearance.
The clinching goal arrived in the 77th minute and it was another brilliant move by Leipzig. Nkunku’s searching cross-field pass found Mohamed Simakran on the right of the area and the Frenchman cushioned the ball into the path of Silva, who took a touch before finishing neatly. The teams meet again in Glasgow next week as they battle with 2nd place Shakhtar Donetsk to join expected group winners Real Madrid in the knockout stage.
"The whole team played well and we all covered a lot of ground,” Silva said. “We wanted to get back into the game quickly after their equaliser and we did that well. We were compact, deserved our goals and the victory. The win today was a relief for us. I always try to do my best and help the team."
Guerreiro leads Dortmund rout
Raphaël Guerreiro scored for the second time in this season’s competition as Borussia Dortmund hammered Spanish side Sevilla 4-1 at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. The match later proved to be the last in charge of the Andalusians for former Porto boss Julien Lopetegui, who was fired not long after the final whistle.
Guerreiro put Dortmund ahead after just five minutes, receiving a pass from Jude Bellingham before driving infield and firing his shot into the far corner from just inside the penalty area. English wonderkid Bellingham scored the second and Karim Adeyemi made it 3-0 before the break, after which Youssef En-Nesyri pulled one back for Sevilla but Julian Brandt scored a fourth to seal Lopetegui’s departure.
By Sean Gillen
