Substitute Jamie Gittens scored two goals and Serhou Guirassy added a late penalty as Borussia Dortmund punished hosts Club Brugge for several wasted chances with a 3-0 win in their Champions League clash at Jan Breydelstadion on Wednesday.
Last year’s beaten finalists rode their luck but grabbed the lead when English winger Gittens, 20, picked up the ball on the left-hand side of the box and his angled shot took two deflections before ending up in the far corner of the net.
He made sure of the three points with a second goal when he ran at the Brugge defence again before creating the space to shoot, firing a low drive into the net for a superb solo strike.
Brugge will feel aggrieved – they struck the crossbar at 0-0 through Hugo Vetlesen and had a couple of penalty appeals waved away but were also wasteful in front of goal, especially in the first half when they spurned several excellent chances.
Brugge were arguably the better side for 76 minutes until they conceded and the confidence they had displayed up until then suddenly drained away.
Vetlesen hit the underside of the crossbar early on with a shot from six metres after Dortmund failed to clear a corner, leading to a scramble in the box in which Raphael Onyedika’s shot was only parried by Gregor Kobel and the ball fell to Vetlesen, whose first-time effort came back off the woodwork.
Hans Vanaken blazed over when well placed and Vetlesen had another superb chance from a flowing Brugge move but his side-footed effort from 16 metres was well saved by Kobel.
After Gittens scored his first, Dortmund seized control of the contest and finished much stronger, adding a late third goal when Brandon Mechele felled Guirassy in the box and could have little complaint as referee Irfan Peljto pointed to the spot.
Guirassy confidently struck the spot-kick to add gloss to a scoreline that did not tell the full tale of the contest.
Dortmund host Celtic in their next Champions League fixture on 1 October while Brugge go to Austrian side Sturm Graz the following day.
