BRUGES (Belgium) (WS News) – English winger Jamie Gittens came off the bench to score twice in the final 15 minutes to seal Borussia Dortmund a 3-0 win at Club Brugge in their Champions League opener on Wednesday.
Last year’s finalists, who lost to Real Madrid at Wembley in June, got off to a fast start in the new-look league stage.
New Dortmund coach Nuri Sahin brought Gittens on as a substitute with 22 minutes remaining and the game goalless.
The 20-year-old scored shortly after, his right-foot shot looping over the head of Club Brugge goalkeeper Simon Mignolet with the aid of a deflection.
Again coming off the left flank, Gittens blasted a low shot into the net to score his second with four minutes remaining, snuffing out Brugge’s chance of a comeback.
Summer arrival Serhou Guirassy won and converted a penalty in injury time to add gloss to the final score.
“Today is a good day. We won the game and (scoring) two goals is really good,” Gittens told DAZN.
“I tried to come on the pitch and make an impact. That’s what I got told to do and that’s what I did.”
Dortmund captain Emre Can said: “Jamie came in and played a good game to help us with two goals (after a) sluggish display.
“It wasn’t a top performance but we’ll take the victory. It’s not easy to play here but we deserved to win.”
DORTMUND LEAVE IT LATE
Sahin, who at 36 is the youngest coach in this season’s Champions League, made three changes from Friday’s 4-2 Bundesliga win over Heidenheim, including benching Guirassy as he continues his return from injury.
The visitors dominated possession but Belgian champions Brugge had the best opportunities of the opening half.
With 12 minutes gone, Raphael Onyedika pounced on a loose ball in the Dortmund box and forced a good save from ‘keeper Gregor Kobel.
Brugge midfielder Hugo Vetlesen latched onto the rebound but his strike could only shake the crossbar as Dortmund held on.
Brugge again went close with 30 minutes remaining, Kobel keeping a goalbound shot from Vetlesen out with his fingertips.
As he had done in Dortmund’s Bundesliga opener against Eintracht Frankfurt, Gittens — who replaced the ineffective Marcel Sabitzer — came off the bench late and turned the game with two goals.
While the former Manchester City winger’s first goal took a fortunate deflection, his second showcased his skill, as he dribbled down the left and cut in to fire home a low shot.
Guirassy, who joined Dortmund having scored 28 goals in 28 league games for Stuttgart last season, was brought down in the box and converted the penalty with the final kick of the game.
The clean sheet against Brugge meant Dortmund became the first team in Champions League history to face a team five times without conceding a goal.
