DORTMUND, Germany (Reuters) -A dominant Borussia Dortmund scored once in each half to beat Newcastle United 2-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday and provisionally take over the lead in Group F with two games remaining.
Germany forward Niclas Fuellkrug drilled in from close range in the 26th minute for his first goal in the competition and Julian Brandt added another on the break in the 79th to kill off the game and dent Newcastle’s chances of a top-two finish.
The result lifted Dortmund, who have beaten the Premier League club in both their group matches, to seven points in top spot. Newcastle have four while AC Milan, on two points, host Paris St Germain, who have six, later on Tuesday.
“It was very deserved with a great team performance,” said Dortmund coach Edin Terzic. “We owed the fans something from Saturday.”
“We beat Newcastle now twice, and twice kept a clean sheet. The seven points are not enough. It was a good step but more need to follow.”
Newcastle coach Eddie Howe said his team had to win their remaining matches to have any chance of advancing.
“We’ve got to try and win our last two games (in Paris and at home to Milan),” Howe said. “We weren’t far away tonight, that’s the thing to take away. At our very best, even with the number of players we have out, we’re good enough (to win here).”
The hosts were brimming with confidence from the start, showing no effects of Saturday’s 4-0 home loss to Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich.
They were in control throughout, with the match briefly interrupted in the second half by fans throwing fake gold bars onto the pitch in protest at European governing body UEFA’s planned competition reforms.
Dortmund’s early pressure paid dividends when Fuellkrug combined well with Marcel Sabitzer and fired the ball left-footed into the roof of the Newcastle goal to give them a deserved lead.
They went close to another goal with a lightning-quick break while a Sabitzer shot flew over the bar a little later.
Newcastle, the first team to start eight English players in a Champions League game since Manchester United against FC Kosice in 1997, were missing key players through injury including Sven Botman, Alexander Isak, Harvey Barnes and Elliot Anderson.
But they came out fighting after the break, with the introduction of Anthony Gordon and Miguel Almiron adding pace to their game.
Joelinton missed their biggest chance in the 56th minute when his glancing header from a pin-point Tino Livramento cross whizzed wide.
Livramento’s performance was one of the few highlights for Eddie Howe’s team, with the 20-year-old making an outstanding competition debut.
Dortmund put the game to bed in the 79th when Karim Adeyemi found Brandt on the break and the Germany midfielder slotted in their second goal.
(Reporting by Karolos GrohmannEditing by Toby Davis)
