Confident Dortmund beats Monaco 3-0 in Champions League
DORTMUND, Germany (AP) — Paco Alcacer made up for a missed penalty by scoring on his first start for Borussia Dortmund, helping the German team beat Monaco 3-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The Spanish striker, who joined Dortmund from Barcelona in the offseason, drove his penalty against the crossbar midway through the second half, then made up for it by eluding two defenders before blasting in Dortmund's second goal.
Marco Reus completed the scoring in injury time as the Bundesliga leader earned its second win from two Champions League games and maintained its unbeaten start to the season.
The previous meeting between the sides in April 2017 was marred by a bomb attack on Dortmund's team bus on its way to the stadium for their quarterfinal.
Mario Goetze was left out of Dortmund's squad for the third straight game, while the team was also without the injured Christian Pulisic, Shinji Kagawa and Marcel Schmelzer.
Monaco had more chances early on and Youri Tielemans drew a fine save from Roman Buerki inside 20 minutes.
"We showed patience. We knew it would be a difficult game," Buerki said.
Alcacer went close with a curling shot after half an hour, but it sailed just wide of the far post, before Marius Wolf went even closer with a shot that Diego Benaglio did brilliantly to stop going in.
Benaglio was forced off afterward after suffering an apparent groin injury after making the save. The former Wolfsburg goalkeeper was given a round of applause by the home fans.
Dortmund coach Lucien Favre brought on Jacob Bruun Larsen at halftime and the 20-year-old wasted little time in marking his debut in the competition by breaking the deadlock after being set up by fellow youngster Jadon Sancho.
"I'm delighted," Bruun Larsen said. "It was an awesome moment."
The 18-year-old Sancho, who extended his contract the day before, now has seven assists in nine competitive games for Dortmund.
Alcacer missed his penalty after Reus was brought down by Kamil Glik and Sancho missed another chance before the home side's pressure was finally rewarded with a second goal.
