Champions League
September 18, 2012
Dortmund
1 - 0
Ajax
Group D
18:45 +00:00, September 18, 2012
Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany
Lewandowski leaves it late
Scoring Summary
| Borussia Dortmund | Ajax Amsterdam |
|---|---|
| Mats Hummels (pen miss 58') | |
| Robert Lewandowski (87') |
Teams
| Borussia Dortmund | Ajax Amsterdam |
|---|---|
| 1 Roman Weidenfeller | 1 Kenneth Vermeer |
| 15 Mats Hummels | 4 Niklas Moisander |
| 4 Neven Subotic | 3 Toby Alderweireld |
| 29 Marcel Schmelzer | 17 Daley Blind |
| 26 Lukasz Piszczek | 24 Ricardo Van Rhijn |
| 10 Mario Götze | 5 Christian Poulsen |
| 5 Sebastian Kehl | 8 Christian Eriksen |
| 8 Ilkay Gündogan | 10 Siem De Jong |
| 9 Robert Lewandowski | 49 Ryan Babel |
| 11 Marco Reus | 21 Derk Boerrigter |
| 16 Jakub Blaszczykowski | 19 Tobias Sana |
| Substitutes | |
| 27 Felipe Santana | Miralem Sulejmani 7 |
| 6 Sven Bender | Thulani Serero 25 |
| 44 Ivan Perisic | Lasse Schöne 20 |
| 20 Mitchell Langerak | Jasper Cillessen 22 |
| 19 Kevin Großkreutz | Jody Lukoki 27 |
| 23 Julian Schieber | Joel Veltman 33 |
| 7 Moritz Leitner | Mitchell Dijks 35 |
| Substitutions | |
| Ivan Perisic for Jakub Blaszczykowski (73) | Lasse Schöne for Ryan Babel (79) |
| Julian Schieber for Mario Götze (88) | Miralem Sulejmani for Tobias Sana (89) |
| Moritz Leitner for Ilkay Gündogan (89) | |
| Yellow Cards | |
| Tobias Sana (37) | |
| Ricardo Van Rhijn (57) | |
| · Squads: Borussia Dortmund | Ajax Amsterdam | |
Robert Lewandowski's 87th-minute goal gave Borussia Dortmund a winning start to their Champions League campaign as they beat Ajax 1-0.
Mats Hummels' missed second-half penalty looked like being costly for Jurgen Klopp's side in their opening fixture in Group D.
However, Lewandowski struck three minutes from time in front of a crowd of more than 80,000 at the Westfalenstadion.
Dortmund had most of the first half chances, although none of them were clear-cut.
The game's first opening came in the 10th minute but Lewandowski's shot was wide of the target.
Two minutes later at the other end Christian Eriksen had a shot which Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller parried for a corner.
The home side's Mario Gotze saw his close-range effort blocked by Ajax goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer soon after.
Lewandowski tried an ambitious 25-yard lob just before the half hour mark - but it went over the crossbar - then Marcel Schmelzer brought a save out of Vermeer.
The final chance of the first half came in the 42nd minute but Sebastian Kehl's 30-yard effort sailed over.
The visitors were almost level early in the second half but Weidenfeller did brilliantly to parry Siem de Jong's powerfully struck shot.
Lewandowski shot over before Marco Reus brought a brilliant save out of Vermeer in the 52nd minute.
Then IIkay Gundogan shot over as the home side increased the pressure.
Five minutes later the hosts had a penalty when Ajax's Ricardo Van Rhijn was penalised for fouling Gotze in the penalty area.
However, Hummels' penalty was weakly struck and easily saved by Vermeer.
Ivan Perisic was brought on for Jakub Blaszczykowski for the home side before Ajax's Ryan Babel was replaced by Lasse Schone with 11 minutes remaining.
The decisive breakthrough came when Lukasz Piszczek headed goalwards and Lewandowski supplied a neat finish into the corner from 12 yards.