Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel felt his side could have made things easier for themselves by dispatching some of their earlier chances during the Champions League clash against Sabah FK on Tuesday.
A brace from Serhou Guirassy helped them seal a 2-1 victory at the Baku Olympic Stadium as Dortmund ended their dreadful run since returning from the international break and picked up their first win of the month.
The Guinean ace broke the deadlock for them in the 10th minute after racing on to a loose ball as Sabah goalkeeper Stas Pokatilov spilled Felix Nmecha's original shot, bundling it home from close-range for 1-0.
However, the BVB had a few other good chances before that. Daniel Svensson attempted a shot from outside the box which was saved, whereas Fabio Silva also shot straight at Pokatilov from close-range. Guirasy too, had a chance of his own before the opener but it came to naught.
Kobel felt putting away those chances would have helped them get their feet off the pedal later instead of having to remain on the rope as the side did till the end, with Sabah threatening in transitions.
Speaking to the press after the game, he said:
"In the end, it was harder than it needed to be. We could have scored a goal or two earlier to make the game a bit more comfortable."
Dortmund's lead was canceled out by Aden McCarthy with a header off a free-kick from Tymuteusz Puchacz in the 39th minute.
Joey Veerman can agonizingly close to scoring a second goal from a free-kick in the first half, but it was saved almost on the line itself by Pokatilov.
The Prussians then went in front again eight minutes into the second half when Guirassy ran into the space in behind Sabah's defense to connect with an excellent cross from Veerman.
Dortmund finished the game with nine shots on target and seven big chances created, something Kobel said was a big positive they could take from the match.
"We created a ton of chances — no doubt the most of any game we've played in recent weeks — so that's a very positive takeaway."
Fabio Silva in particular, was uncharacteristically wasteful, skying his efforts into the stands, including one late on after Jobe Bellingham set him up with a brilliant through ball.
The Portuguese had the time and space before making his attempt, but contrived to fire it into the stands instead.
Despite the win though, Kobel was not satisfied with his team unable to bag a few more goals which could have ended the tie as a contest much earlier.
"In the end, it’s a bit of a bummer we couldn't settle down a bit by sealing the win earlier."
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