Adeyemi solo strike earns Dortmund 1-0 win over Chelsea


Dortmund, February 16 (BNA): Borussia Dortmund snatched a 1-0 victory over Chelsea in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 today, Wednesday, thanks to Karim Adeyemi’s wonderful goal, to continue his winning streak this year.

Reuters reports that Germany international Adeyemi sprinted more than 60 meters and powered a home run against the half to give his side the advantage going into the second leg in London on March 7.

“We controlled the first half,” said Dortmund captain Judd Bellingham. “They had chances but we were in control for most of the first half.”

“In the second half we took the foot off the gas and they had more control. We showed how well we can defend and keep up the game.”

Chelsea’s incompetence in spending big in front of goal has been a problem for the Premier League club this season and they’ve managed just one win in 2023.

They missed a number of good chances against Dortmund, including hitting the woodwork through Joao Felix, but fell short of an equaliser.

They looked sharper at the start of the game and Thiago Silva put the ball into the net after 16 minutes, but the Chelsea captain were penalized for handball after he attempted a header into the net.

More space

Dortmund gradually found more space and fired home through Sebastien Haller in the 27th minute.

The visitors, who spent more than $350m on transfers during the winter window to bring in eight players, responded with two big chances against Felix, with the Portuguese also hitting the crossbar after beating Coppell.

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Both teams had to wait until the second half to get their first shots on goal, as Coppell slotted a powerful Reece James free kick past his Chelsea counterpart, Kepa Arrizabalaga, stopping Julian Brandt’s low shot.

But with Chelsea aiming for a goal and Coppel forcing another save, it was Dortmund who found the net in the 63rd minute.

Adeyemi got the clearance of a Chelsea corner and raced half the length of the field before he edged Fernandes into the sprint and got close to Kepa to score.

“It’s a bad goal,” Chelsea manager Graham Potter said. “We have to do better. We were pushing at the time and we were the better team.” “They (the players) know they can do better with that. But we’ll focus on the positives. It was another step forward for us.

“The spirit is in the team,” Potter said.

The hosts had to survive their scares late on, as Kalidou Koulibaly’s shot was deflected off the line by Emre Can and Copil again denying Fernandes in stoppage time a brilliant save before the German side secured a seventh successive win.

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