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Dortmund eases to 4-0 win over Galatasaray in Champions League

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice as Borussia Dortmund exploited poor defending to beat Galatasaray 4-0 in the Champions League on Oct. 22.

Dortmund’s third victory in three matches strengthened its grip on Group D with nine points. Arsenal beat Anderlecht 2-1 and is second with six. Anderlecht and Galatasaray have one each.

Aubameyang opened the scoring in the sixth minute, when he tapped in a cross from Marco Reus, and doubled the lead in the 18th with another simple strike from close range. Reus scored the third in the 41st by curling in a spectacular shot from more than 20 meters.

Adrian Ramos added the fourth in the 83rd, one minute after coming on for Shinji Kagawa, who had set up Reus.

All four goals came after woeful defending by Galatasaray. “We were very efficient,” Dortmund’s captain Mats Hummels said. “We had two early chances and we scored from both of them, and then of course it’s easier to play. We also wanted to play good defense and we did.”

Aubameyang was left with a simple tap-in on the first goal when Reus had plenty of space to cross. On the second, Henrikh Mkhitaryan sent Lukasz Piszczek racing and the defender had plenty of time to find Aubameyang.

Neven Subotic made a big clearance in front of Burak Yılmaz, then Aubameyang hit the post from close range from another Mkhitaryan pass.

Reus was left unchallenged when he fired his goal and Ramos also had plenty of space to place his shot after a good through ball from İlkay Gundoğan, another substitute who is coming back after missing 14 months with a back injury.

Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp believes his side still have a lot to work to do to in the Champions League, despite their 4-0 win at Galatasaray.

Dortmund sit top of Group D and are potentially only a point away from qualifying for the last 16, but Klopp was still not completely happy as they bounced back from successive Bundesliga defeats on Wednesday night.

“I wouldn’t say it was as easy as it looked,” he said at the post-match press conference. “We scored the goals at the right time, but it certainly wasn’t easy tonight. We’re light years from perfection, even if it is extraordinary to win 4-0 away from home in the Champions League.”

Klopp now hopes his side can replicate their European form domestically, where in eight games this season they have picked up two points fewer than in just three Champions League outings.

“Certainly we’re not going to give away any more room, or at least that’s the plan,” Klopp added. “We must not concede such easy goals any more. We’ve got to be ready to get dirty wins, and that is going to be the case from now on.”

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