Centurion Guirassy sinks Villarreal again with late brace

Serhou Guirassy scored a late brace to help Borussia Dortmund to an opening matchday victory over Villarreal in the Champions League. The 30-year-old also got one past his own goalkeeper in injury-time, but it was too late for the Spaniards.

The visitors had the first two half-chances of the game with headers from Pau Navarro and Tani Oluwaseyi. At the other end, experienced duo Marcel Sabitzer and Guirassy failed to make Borussia Dortmund’s first attempt from promising positions before the tenth minute mark.

Chances were few and far between in the next 15 minutes before Dortmund faced a scare. Konstantinos Karetsas was forced to be substituted in what was later reported as a circulation problem as Ethan Nwaneri came in his place.

By contrast, the final ten minutes of the first-half were lively as Guirassy had a couple of decent opportunities after Tajon Buchanan tested Gregor Kobel. The Guinean talisman scored his first goal in last season’s head-to-head meeting just before the half-time break, and he was close to doing the same.

Dortmund’s momentum continued after the restart with Nwaneri’s decent effort right away before the England U21 international hit the woodwork in the 50th minute. The Arsenal loanee also had an impact over the weekend after his early introduction in place of the injured Filippo Mane.

However, it was Maximilian Beier’s quick feet that forced an own-goal from Renato Viega on this one. The former Augsburg defender had the last touch after Péter Gulácsi’s failed attempt to stop the delivery from the new wingback.

The visitors had the next two best chances through Oluwaseyi and Nicolas Pépé before Kobel made his first save of the game from Georges Mikautadze’s effort. Villarreal scored from the resulting corner-kick with Santiago Mourino’s header.

The LaLiga side continued their pressure as Kobel, who needed medical treatment after his first save, made another decisive stop to deny Buchanan. Fábio Silva’s introduction improved Dortmund’s attack as Guirassy came close once again to keep his scoring streak.

The 2024/25 joint-top-scorer wasn’t going to be denied as he scored a late brace in his 100th Dortmund appearance. The striker was in the right place to restore Dortmund’s lead from close range ten minutes before time.

Five minutes later, he scored from a penalty-kick he won himself after Mourino’s needless tussle. The former Stuttgart striker repeated his feat from last season with his two goals sinking Villarreal at Westfalenstadion once again.

Gulácsi made another superb stop to deny the brilliant Fábio Silva in the 90th minute to keep the scoreline respectable. Guirassy then beat Kobel from Pépé's free-kick in the game's last meaningful action. The hosts held on to start their European campaign with three points. Dortmund’s next game will be against Paderborn as they hope to continue their perfect start to the league season.