Borussia Dortmund earned their first win of the Champions League league phase with a commanding 4-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao, leaving the visitors without a win in six matches.
Chances were scarce early on, but Dortmund’s pressure told on 28 minutes when Daniel Svensson arrived to sweep in Karim Adeyemi’s driven cross for his first goal in the competition, after Julian Ryerson had released Adeyemi down the right. Niklas Süle twice went close before the interval as Niko Kovac’s side controlled the tempo without fully cutting loose.
Five minutes into the second half, Dortmund doubled the lead in style. Carney Chukwuemeka finished a flowing move with a jinking run and low shot at the near post for his first European goal. Athletic briefly threatened a comeback on 61 minutes when Gorka Guruzeta capitalised on slack defending to halve the deficit, moments after three half-time changes from Ernesto Valverde.
Robert Navarro then had the ball in the net with a deft chip but was ruled offside, and the visitors missed by inches again as tension rose around Signal Iduna Park. Dortmund killed the contest on 82 minutes when Marcel Sabitzer’s strike deflected off Serhou Guirassy and flew in. Julian Brandt added a fourth in stoppage time with a crisp finish to seal an emphatic result.
Dortmund have now lost only one of their last nineteen Champions League home matches, while Athletic suffer a fourth straight European defeat for the first time.
