published: tuesday 16 september 2014, 22.45cet borussia dortmund 2-0 arsenal fc
dortmund flew out of the traps in group d, goals from ciro ımmobile and pierre-emerick aubameyang earning a highly impressive victory.
• ciro ımmobile marks uefa champions league debut with opening goal before half-time • pierre-emerick aubameyang's fifth goal of the season makes it 2-0 • aubameyang and henrikh mkhitaryan both spurned opportunities at 0-0 • next games: arsenal v galatasaray, anderlecht v dortmund (1 october)
goals either side of half-time from ciro ımmobile and pierre-emerick aubameyang earned a highly impressive victory for dortmund at home to arsenal.
jürgen klopp's side made their intentions clear from the off, winning possession soon after kick-off and rarely losing it as the chances began to flow. ıt took until the stroke of half-time for ımmobile to break the deadlock but aubameyang doubled the advantage soon after the interval in a performance which will imbue the 2013 finalists with confidence.
roared on by the ever-vociferous home crowd, dortmund began with intensity, pressing their visitors and earning a string of early corners. one delivery was stabbed wide by sokratis papastathopoulos before the industrious ımmobile dragged his first effort past the post.
as the pressure increased, it seemed a dortmund breakthrough was inevitable. yet as aubameyang was denied from close range by wojciech szczęsny and jack wilshere stretched to prevent henrikh mkhitaryan from slamming in, it began to feel as though it might not be their night.
those fears only worsened as arsenal began to come out of their shell, with danny welbeck twice getting into good positions. aubameyang and ımmobile had each drawn saves from szczęsny between times and the ıtalian striker's hard work was rewarded with an outstanding opener, sprinting from his own half, holding off the challenges of laurent koscielny and kieran gibbs and slotting in his first competitive goal in a dortmund shirt.
ıt was a deserved lead against an arsenal side who had failed to muster a single shot on goal in the opening period and soon after the restart they were two behind. arsène wenger had barely retaken his seat by the time kevin grosskreutz had clipped a delightful ball through for aubameyang, who bundled his way past szczęsny before guiding the ball past the scrambling koscielny and over the line.
ımmobile brought a fine save from szczęsny soon afterwards and aubameyang then turned on the afterburners, racing past koscielny with ease before grazing the bar. the gabon international headed another chance wide and mkhitaryan blazed over following another good break heading into the latter stages, but while the scoreline remained the same, dortmund's tally of 20 shots to arsenal's three told its own story.
