The story appears on

Page A16

November 28, 2013

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

HomeSportsSoccer

Dortmund, Arsenal take control of Group F

Borussia Dortmund put its European campaign firmly back on track with a 3-1 win over Napoli on Tuesday with a performance reminiscent of last season’s superb run to the final.

Arsenal also won, defeating Olympique Marseille 2-0 in London.

Coach Juergen Klopp had nothing but praise for his team’s ability to recover from its worst run of form since 2010, while missing an entire first-choice defense through injury.

“We want to continue living our Champions League dream despite all the prophecies of doom,” Klopp said. “It all looks better now but we still need to win in Marseille.”

The victory was positive news for Dortmund in many ways.

Both Napoli and Dortmund have nine points heading into the last final Group F match, but second-place Dortmund has the edge on head-to-head after losing 2-1 at Napoli. It also has the advantage of playing the weakest team of the group, Marseille, which has lost all five of its games.

Arsenal has 12 points and needs to avoid a three-goal defeat at Napoli to advance.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger urged his players to “finish the job” after Jack Wilshere scored both goals in the victory against Marseille.

“It’s unbelievable (not to have qualified with 12 points), but it’s the reality and we have to finish the job,” Wenger said.

Dortmund will now secure a spot in the knockout stage for the second year in a row if they beat Marseille next month. A draw would also be enough if table-topping Arsenal avoid defeat in Naples.

Dortmund scored two dazzling goals on the counter attack — one by Jakub Blaszykowski and the other by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after Marco Reus had put them in the lead from the penalty spot.

 


 

Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

娌叕缃戝畨澶 31010602000204鍙

Email this to your friend