Victories for Dortmund, Lazio and Zenit

Club Brugge's European opponents had a successful weekend. Borussia Dortmund won 0-2 at Arminia Bielefeld, Lazio picked up a 3-4 victory over Torino in extremis and Zenit also won: 0-2 on a visit to FC Khimki.

Arminia Bielefeld - Dortmund 0-2

Borussia Dortmund secured a 0-2 victory at the Arminia Bielefeld pitch. The visitors were missing top striker Haaland due to a knee injury, while Axel Witsel had to start from the bench. Dortmund set the pace right away, but initially remained with a lot of ball possession without creating any real danger. Both Thorgan Hazard and Jayden Sancho did their utmost to disrupt the home defense, but it took almost half an hour before the same Sancho was able to threaten home goalie Ortega with a tight header. Bielefeld tried to use a double defensive belt to keep the Borussen far from their goal. In the first half, they succeeded quite well as it remained 0-0 until the halftime signal.

Both teams started the second half without changes, but the threat in front of the Bielefeld goal increased by the minute. The first corner kick after the break was an immediate winner. Thomas Meunier deviated the ball lightly with the head towards Mats Hummels, who scored with the thigh. Just under ten minutes later, Bellingham's 0-2 was rightly disallowed for offside, but it was clear that Dortmund were pushing forward to get the 0-2 on the scoreboard as quickly as possible. Bielefeld still tried to turn the tide with a double substitution, but moments later it was again Hummels who was able to head a perfect cross from Reus across. Five minutes before the whistle, the same Hummels dropped out with a hamstring injury, so it remains to be seen whether he will be fit for Wednesday's match against Club Brugge. Thanks to this win, Dortmund remains in the lead together with Bayern Munich. (FDC)

Borussia Dortmund: Bürki, Hummels (85' Piszszek), Akanji, Delaney (82' Witsel), Meunier, Hazard (82' Reinier), Brandt, Passlack, Sancho (75' Reyna), Bellingham, Reus (75' Guerreiro).
Goals: 53' Hummels (0-1), 71' Hummels (0-2).

Torino - Lazio 3-4

Lazio Roma earned a hard-fought 3-4 victory against Torino. The Romans again had top striker Immobile at their disposal, yet some players were still missing due to corona issues. Brazilian Belgian Pereira brought the visitors to the lead after 15 minutes, but a few minutes later the signs were already level through Bremer. After a Pereira foul, Torino was awarded a penalty kick that was flawlessly converted by Belotti. The home side went to rest with a 2-1 lead, but saw its bonus nullified just after halftime by Milinković-Savić who cashed in on a free kick.

The match seemed to be heading for a draw, but a frantic finale decided otherwise. In the 87th minute, Lukić struck for the home side putting the three points within reach of Torino. But that was beyond Lazio: the visitors mounted a real final offensive, with two substitutes making up the difference. Immobile scored from the spot in the 95th minute and Caicedo gave the Romans delirium with his winning goal in the 98th minute. Lazio is now seventh in the rankings with 10 out of 18. A serious boost for Simone Inzaghi's team, which travels to Zenit St. Petersburg on Wednesday. (VM)

Lazio: Reina, Acerbi, Hoedt, Felipe, Fares (81' Cataldi), Pereira (46' Akpa Akpro), Parolo (46' Leiva), Milinković-Savić, Patric, Correa (73' Caicedo), Muriqi (56' Immobile).
Goals: 15' Pereira (0-1), 19' Bremer (1-1), 25' Belotti (penalty, 2-1), 48' Milinković-Savić (2-2), 87' Lukić (3-2), 95' Immobile (penalty, 3-3), 98' Caicedo (3-4).

FC Khimki - Zenit 0-2

After three defeats in a row - against Club Brugge, Rubin Kazan and Dortmund - Zenit Saint Petersburg was able to recover. It secured a 0-2 victory on the FC Khimki pitch. Striker Dzyuba was missing, allowing Erokhin to advance to the point of attack. He was flanked by Sutormin and Mostovoy. It was the latter who gave Zenit the lead after twenty minutes. The 0-1 remained on the board for a long time, but just under 15 minutes before time Erokhin was able to provide the decision. Since leader Spartak Moscow surprisingly went down, Zenit does a good job in the standings. It jumps to second place, one point from new leader CSKA Moscow. (SF)

Zenit: Kerzhakov, Karavaev, Lovren, Rakitskiy (81' Chistyakov), Zhirkov, Kuzyaev (89' Prokhin), Ozdoev, Douglas Santos, Sutormin (61' Krugovoy), Erokhin, Mostovoy.
Goals: 18' Mostovoy (0-1), 78' Erokhin (0-2).