Borussia Dortmund sporting manager Nils-Ole Book admitted it was a 'sweet' victory for his side after beating Sabah 2-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Serhou Guirassy was at the double for the BVB, scoring on either side of Aden McCarthy's goal to bring his side back to winning ways after four games.
Unlike their recent clashes, wherein the Bundesliga giants were struggling for attacking firepower, Dortmund showed plenty of dynamism in Azerbaijan.
Within the first 15 minutes, they attempted eight shots, four of which were on target, as Guirassy, Daniel Svensson and Fabio Silva all came close to scoring.
The visitors finally had their breakthrough in the 10th minute when a splendid combination play between Silva and Carney Chukwuemeka culminated in a chance for Felix Nmecha.
His attempt was saved, but goalkeeper Stas Pokatilov spilled it and Guirassy raced forward to connect with the loose ball and bundle it home for 1-0.
Ole Book felt having to make a five-hour journey from Dortmund to Azeri capital of Baku only made the win sweeter.
"When you travel this far — and not just us, but the fans as well — it only makes it sweeter to get the three points, which were also critical because of our loss in Norway. "
Up until this point, Dortmund were on a downward spiral, failing to win any of their three games since returning from the international break which included a 1-0 loss to Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League last week.
"Of course, it feels good to get a victory after three winless games."Book further added
Dortmund's lead was canceled out by McCarthy with a header off Tymoteusz Puchacz's brilliant free-kick inside the box but Guirassy restored their advantage early into the second period with a lovely finish off Joey Veerman's chiselled cross.
The side finished with 22 shots in the match, of which nine were on target, reflecting their attacking dominance and innovation in the match which warranted a much bigger win than just 2-1. Ole Book shared the sentiment too but asserted it was still a positive step forward.
"We definitely could have helped ourselves out today by being more ruthless. On the other hand, we took a significant step forward in terms of the way we played football."
Sabah grew into the match late on, looking to expose Dortmund on the counter, but lacked the killer ball to make their moves count and lost their first European game of the season at home.
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