Monaco 0-2 Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund have finished top of Champions League Group A after a clinical display in Monaco.
It was pretty comfortable at the Stade Louis II Stadium for the Bundesliga runaway leaders, and this is a great time to be a member of the famous Yellow Wall. Maybe the Champions League 2018 betting markets will begin to wake up to the possibilities opening up in front of Dortmund.
This BVB team seems to be getting better and better. For sure, the SBOBET Football fans know just how good Lucien Favre’s team is, and he has a deep squad, as he proved tonight by ringing the changes. And after Atletico drew with Club Brugge, Dortmund grabbed the top spot.
Meanwhile, Monaco boss Thierry Henry is having a tough time of things in Ligue 1, and this Champions League game was just a diversion, which he hoped would give his players some confidence. But a goal in either half from Raphael Guerreiro soon put paid to that.
Highlights of the game
This BVB side can be so explosive, destroying the legendary Atletico Madrid defence with a 4-0 thrashing earlier in the competition. And they came out on the front foot once again: Mario Gotze coming close with a right-foot effort after Maximilian Philipp had put him in.
It took the Bundesliga leaders just 15 minutes to take the lead. Philipp was the provider again, this time putting a cross on a plate for Guerreiro to smack the ball home.
Dortmund continued to press with Omar Toprak and Philipp both having attempts on goal, which then prompted Monaco into a flurry of attacks. Youri Tielemans had a shot charged down, while Skipper Radamel Falcao began to get into his stride too. Moreover, when Tielemans found Falcao, he fired a fierce shot just wide of the top corner.
Abdou Diallo came close to adding a second for BVB from a Guerreiro cross, but Monaco went in at the break still in the game.
The hosts came out for the second half with plenty of purpose. First, Tielemans sent over a corner which Kamil Glik headed just over; and then when Falcao had a chance with a free kick, he too shot over the bar.
Favre decided to strengthen his hand and brought in the prolific Paco Alcacer. The super-sub striker had an immediate impact, for once as a provider rather than goal-getter. He found Guerreiro who gleefully slammed the ball into the top right corner.
Game over.
Key statistics
This was a game with little at stake other than BVB’s momentum and Monaco’s confidence. The German team emerged with another win while the hosts can take little comfort.
BVB dominated the first half with 65 percent possession and a shot count of seven to four. That pattern continued throughout the game as the German side eventually had 14 shots to six, with four on target, while Monaco didn’t trouble Marwin Hitz in the BVB goal once.
Monaco had beaten Borussia Dortmund twice in the knockout stages of the 2017 competition, but the Champions League 2018 results have not been so kind to Les Rouges et Blancs. Borussia won the home tie this season by a comfortable margin of 3-0, and the way these two teams have been playing, another win for Favre was no surprise at all.
Dortmund haven’t lost in the last seven games, while Monaco are now winless in 11 games at the Stade Louis II—losing the last four.
What’s next?
It doesn’t get any easier for Henry’s Monaco. If, as hoped, the Ligue 1 fixtures are uninterrupted by civil unrest this weekend, they take the trip to Lyon to face Olympique Lyonnaise, who are in Champions League action against Shakhtar tomorrow.
Lyon are currently in fourth spot in Ligue 1, chasing down another Champions League place, while Monaco sit worryingly in the relegation zone. But Henry has an extra day to prepare his team, and they might just be grateful to be in the road again!
Next up for BVB is a home game against Werden Bremen, a team with four defeats in the last six league fixtures, followed by a trip to Dusseldorf to take on bottom club Fortuna.
Favre happily rested some big names tonight, and his team will be refreshed and should, at least, be able to preserve its nine-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga until Christmas. The bandwagon rolls on.
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