Borussia Dortmund snatched a 1-0 victory over Chelsea in the Champions League round-of-16 first leg on Wednesday courtesy of Karim Adeyemi’s superb goal to extend their winning run this year.

Germany international Adeyemi sprinted more than 60 metres and slotted home against the run of play to give his team the advantage going into the return leg in London on March 7.

“We dominated the first half. They had chances but we were in control for the majority of the first half,” said Dortmund captain Jude Bellingham.

“In the second half we took the foot off the gas and they had more control. We showed how well we can defend and see out games.”

Big-spending Chelsea’s inefficiency in front of goal has been an issue for the Premier League club this season and they have registered only one win in 2023.

They missed a number of good chances against Dortmund, including hitting the woodwork through Joao Felix, but failed to find an equaliser.

They looked sharper at the start of the game and Thiago Silva put the ball in the net after 16 minutes, but the Chelsea captain was penalised for a handball after he had tried to head in a cross.

Dortmund gradually found more space and hit the side netting through Sebastien Haller in the 27th minute.

With Chelsea pushing for a goal, it was Dortmund who struck after 63 minutes. Adeyemi picked up a clearance from a Chelsea corner and raced half the length of the pitch before beating Enzo Fernandez in the sprint and rounding Kepa Arrizabalaga to score.

“It’s a poor goal. We have to do better. We were pushing at the time and we were the better team,” said Chelsea manager Graham Potter.

“They (players) know they can do better with that. But we will focus on the positives. It was another step forward.

“The spirit is there in the team. We need a bit of luck and the performance level we had tonight (Wednesday) and just keep improving,” he added.

Benfica triumph

Joao Mario’s second-half penalty and a late goal from David Neres gave Benfica a 2-0 win over Club Brugge in the first leg in Belgium, leaving the Portuguese club with a major advantage for next month’s return.

Mario’s 51st-minute spotkick came after Benfica had spurned a host of good opportunities as they dominated the away encounter and ensured they have a lead to defend at home in the return in Lisbon on March 7.

The penalty was awarded after Brugge’s Scottish defender Jack Hendry had brought down Goncalo Ramos in a clumsy challenge.

Neres took advantage of a defensive slip to tuck away the second goal in the 88th minute.

Brugge defender Bjorn Meijer failed to clear and substitute Neres stole in to take possession and score.

Reuters

La Liga: Benzema brace in big win

Madrid: Real Madrid earned a 4-0 home win over bottom side Elche in the La Liga on Wednesday, restoring their eight-point gap with leaders Barcelona.

Real are second in the standings on 48 points from 21 games — behind table-toppers Barcelona who are on an unbeaten run of 12 games.

Marco Asensio, Karim Benzema (twice) and Luka Modric were all on target.

Asensio put Real in front eight minutes into the game with a low shot inside the bottom left corner. Benzema doubled their advantage from the spot just after the half-hour mark. Scoring his goal No. 229, the Frenchman surpassed former captain Raul Gonzalez (228) to become La Liga’s fifth-highest scorer — and second-best scorer in the league for Real Madrid, with only Cristiano Ronaldo in front with 311 goals.

The France forward made it 3-0 one minute into first-half stoppage time through another penalty.

Reuters