DORTMUND, Germany (AP) – Borussia Dortmund began their failed Champions League crusade on Wednesday by beating Zenit St. Petersburg 2-0 in torrential rain.
Dortmund were to recover from last week’s 3-1 defeat in Lazio, but struggled to break through Zenit’s compact defense until Vyacheslav Karavaev gave a changed penalty through Jadon Sancho.
Erling Haaland added a time off for The Norwegian’s Goal 12 in 10 Champions League games.
Dortmund are third in Group F, at an advantage point over Lazio and the wonderful challenger Bruges, who tied 1-1 on Wednesday, and then has two matches against Bruges, Zenit is the last after wasting his first match against Bruges, and is about to extend its validity for five years without qualifying for the 16-year run.
Haaland was about to score with a low shot deflected in the 42nd minute on a deep ball from Sancho. Gio Reyna and Mahmoud Dahoud made their own mistakes on speculative long-distance shots, while Zenit goalkeeper Mikhail Kerzhakov saved an effort from Marco Reus that has been out of bounds.
Zenit’s defensive tactic and Dortmund’s obvious reluctance to play in giant spaces left the German team a little toothless, all replaced when a centre arrived to replace Thorgan Hazard and Karavaev decided to keep the Belgian away from the ball. Sancho came forward to execute the penalty in the 79th minute, sending Kerzhakov to the road.
Zenit created few occasions and showed little ambition, even after Dortmund took the lead. Sebastian Driussi’s first-half air challenge to goalkeeper Roman Boerki was one of the few highlights, but he ended up with the ball flying over the bar safely.
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