Dortmund Edge Betis 2-1 as Teenager Karetsas Nets Winner

Photo: IMAGO/Bahho Kara via Bundesliga.com

Borussia Dortmund came from a nervy second half to beat Real Betis 2-1 at Signal Iduna Park on Wednesday night, with Fabio Silva scoring one goal and setting up the winner for teenager Konstantinos Karetsas. The win gives Dortmund three wins from four games in this season's Champions League, and ends Betis and their perfect start in the competition.

For a long time, this looked like a night that would end in frustration for the home side. Dortmund made the better chances early on, but Betis keeper Alvaro Valles kept them out time and again, and then came a blow that changed the game. Star striker Serhou Guirassy went down hurt in the 31st minute and could not carry on, so Karetsas came on in his place.

The young Greek midfielder did not take long to make his mark. Just four minutes after half time, Jobe Bellingham's low shot was pushed out by Valles and Silva was first to the loose ball, smashing home the rebound in the 49th minute to put Dortmund 1-0 up.

Betis hit back in the 67th minute. A slip at the back let Abde Ezzalzouli set up Aitor Ruibal, who finished past Gregor Kobel to make it 1-1, and suddenly the visitors believed they could take something home from Germany.

That belief lasted five minutes. Silva picked the ball up around 35 yards from goal, turned, and slid a neat pass to Karetsas at the edge of the box. The substitute picked his spot and hammered the ball into the bottom corner in the 72nd minute, and this time Dortmund held on.

The key moments, in short:

• 49th minute: Fabio Silva scores from a rebound, 1-0 to Dortmund
• 67th minute: Aitor Ruibal levels for Betis after a defensive error, 1-1
• 72nd minute: Konstantinos Karetsas, on for the injured Guirassy, scores the winner, 2-1

There was an early scare for Betis too. Antony thought he had put them ahead in the 14th minute, only for the goal to be ruled out for a tight offside against Troy Parrott in the build-up. Valles then made fine saves from Daniel Svensson and others, and late on he denied Bellingham and Karetsas again, but Dortmund saw the game out to climb to 12th in the league phase table on nine points.

For Dortmund, the win matters for two reasons. It keeps them right in the race for the top eight and direct passage to the last 16, and it came without Guirassy for most of the night, with Silva and Karetsas stepping up instead. Karetsas, who set up Silva's opener in the build-up and then scored himself, is now the youngest Dortmund player to score a winner in this competition, according to beIN Sports. The worry now is Guirassy, who left in the first half with what looked like a thigh injury, as the Associated Press reported, and Dortmund will hope the news on him is good before they face Elversberg in the league on Saturday.

For Betis, this was their first defeat of the league phase after three straight wins, and it shows how fine the margins are at this level. They defended well for long spells and took their one clear second half chance, but one moment of quality from Silva and Karetsas settled it.

PakInsight Hub has followed this Champions League round all week, from Como smashing Lens 9-1 to equal the competition record to Arsenal winning 2-1 at Slavia Prague and Manchester City edging Leipzig 3-2, plus Fenerbahce beating Liverpool 3-2 and Real Madrid winning 3-2 at AEK and Paris Saint-Germain hitting Villarreal for six.

Sources

• Bundesliga.com: Fabio Silva shines as Borussia Dortmund edge past Real Betis
• beIN Sports: Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Real Betis, Karetsas makes Champions League history
• theScore (Associated Press): Dortmund lose Guirassy in UCL win over Real Betis

What happens next: Dortmund travel to Arsenal in the Champions League on 24 November, while Betis look to get back to winning ways in their next league phase game.

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