Borussia Dortmund blitz Sporting CP in second-half rout | OneFootball

After last weekend's domestic stutter, Niko Kovac sealed his first-ever win as Borussia Dortmund head coach this evening in the Portuguese capital. Die Schwarzgelben passed a tricky task against Sporting CP with flying colours.

Rui Borges' team looked sharper in the opening exchanges with Quenda threatening. Maxi Araújo 13th-minute effort cracked off Gregor Kobel's crossbar with the Swiss shot-stopper at full stretch.

Aside from a couple of tame corners, including one which Emre Can did his best to steer on target, the BVB attack was relatively tame at times. A long range effort from Konrad Harder kept Kobel honest once again.

The bulk of Dortmund's first-half joy came through diagonal switches as they looked to isolate the Sporting full-backs with Adeyemi and Gittens' pace.

BVB's best chance was solely created by the Englishman who cut inside and whipped his shot just outside the left post as Rui Silva scrambled in despair.

The second-half brought on an increased wave of Schwarzgelben pressure - Gittens went close again before Rui Silva was forced into a sharp save in the 55th-minute to repel Adeyemi.

Any fan could be forgiven for thinking the introduction of Viktor Gyökeres would have opened the goal-scoring, but in fact Serhou Guirassy broke the deadlock. Julian Brandt's cross found the Guinean striker who looped his header over a rooted Rui Silva.

Approaching the 70th-minute, Niko Kovac's men doubled their advantage. It what was a mirror-image attack, Guirassy turned provider to pick out Pascal Groß. The 33-year-old's back post run enabled him to knee the ball to the net with an unorthodox finish.

A blissful night for Borussia Dortmund was summed up in the 82nd-minute as Karim Adeyemi made it 3-0. A swift counterattack from a Sporting corner allowed the 23-year-old time to play a one-two with Brandt and clip the ball past Rui Silva at the rear post.