DORTMUND TAKE EUROPEAN FIGHT DOWN TO THE WIRE

Dortmund - Borussia Dortmund’s UEFA Champions League fate rests solely in their own hands after Jürgen Klopp’s men picked up a pivotal 3-1 win over Group F rivals S.S.C Napoli on Tuesday.Goals from Marco Reus, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang mean the Bundesliga side now go into their final group game in Marseille knowing a win will see them into the last 16, with Lorenzo Insigne’s strike a mere consolation for the Italian outfit on a barmy night in the Ruhr district.

Latest Football News

Dream start

Hoping to avoid a fourth successive defeat in all competitions, Dortmund could hardly have wished for a more favourable start to proceedings inside the Signal Iduna Park, with Reus stepping up to send Pepe Reina the wrong way from the penalty spot after Napoli defender Federico Fernandez was adjudged to have wrestled Robert Lewandowski to the deck in the tenth minute.Roared on by the raucous Yellow Wall, Dortmund almost made it two when Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s eye-of-the-needle pass found Lewandowski, who could only shank his effort wide of the near post with Pepe Reina beaten. The Napoli goalkeeper managed to get a crucial pair of hands to the hosts’ next effort, though, sprawling low to his right to keep out a trademark Reus free kick.

End to end

The men in blue showed signs of life as the half wore on, with Gonzalo Higuain testing recently capped Germany international Roman Weidenfeller and Jose Callejon striking the foot of the post from a tight angle, before Reina foiled Mkhitaryan and Lewandowski at the other end. Napoli ended the half the stronger of the two, but Higuain was unable to make the most of an error at the back by Dortmund utility man Kevin Großkreutz.Desperate to put a bit of breathing space between the two sides, die Schwarzgelben duly crancked things up after the restart, creating and wasting chance after chance early in the second half. Blaszczykowski was seeing far more of the ball on the right-hand side and, after Reus fired wide, the Poland international saw his deft cut-back swiped away from the lurking Lewandowski by Napoli skipper Christian Maggio.

Dortmund finish the job

There was no let-up, but it looked like being one of those nights for Dortmund when Mkhitaryan at long last beat Reina, only to see his stabbed effort hooked off the line. For their part, Napoli looked about ready to throw in the towel when a rapid break afforded Higuain a rare sight at goal, expertly snuffed out by Weidenfeller. A blistering counter followed, yielding Dortmund’s long-awaited second as Reus and Lewandowski combined to tee up Blaszczykowski to slot through the legs of the onrushing Reina.

Profiting from a mistake by Sven Bender, Napoli substitute Insigne reduced the arrears, but any hopes the visitors had of turning the tide were soon put to bed when Lewandowski played in substitute Aubameyang to give Dortmund a potentially decisive advantage in the head-to-head department ahead of the final round of group fixtures in two weeks’ time.

Line-ups: Dortmund: Weidenfeller - Großkreutz, Sokratis, S. Bender, Durm - Kehl, Sahin – Blaszczykowski (Aubameyang 68’), Mkhitaryan, Reus (Piszczek 80’)- Lewandowski (Schieber 88’) Napoli: Reina - Maggio, Raul Albiol, Fernandez, Armero - Behrami, Dzemali (Inler 62’) - Jose Callejon (Insigne 66’), Pandev (Zapata 76’), Mertens - Higuain Goals: 1-0 Reus 10’, 2-0 Blaszczykowski 60’, Insigne 2-1 71’, 3-1 Aubameyang 77’ Christopher Mayer-Lodge

More about: Borussia Dortmund >

Everything about the Champions League >