It had been a tough few weeks for Serhou Guirassy at Borussia Dortmund. After starting brightly once again this season, his form appeared to fizzle out in a curiously similar pattern to what we saw last year too.
First, the goals dried up. He then struggled to create any assists too. It was a full-blown dry spell for BVB's targetman, who went five on the bounce without finding the back of the net in a worrying development for him and his club, which so often relies on his heroics to get themselves through tight corners.
But on Tuesday, we got to see a glimmer of Guirassy's former, ruthless self as the star roared back into form with two goals that guided Dortmund past Sabah FK in the Champions League. He hounded the Azeri side all night with his buccaneering runs in spaces between their defense, linked up brilliantly with Fabio Silva, and mustered a staggering eight shots, of which four were on target.
His first intervention of the night was rather shabby. A lovely team-move on the right culminated with Felix Nmecha firing a shot at Sabah goalkeper Stas Pokatilov, who spilled it for Guirassy to come running at it and bundle it home for 1-0.
Eight minutes into the second half, with the scoreline locked at 1-1, the Guinean ace came back to haunt the Owls once again with his perfectly-timed run into the box to connect with a superb delivery from Joey Veerman from the right, getting enough power on it to place it over Pokatilov and into the back of the net.
Six goals for the season now for Guirassy, who's always delivered under the European lights. But Dortmund will be hoping that his latest exploits would spark a ruthless streak in the Bundesliga too, where things are a bit more concerning right now.
Back-to-back draws to Werder Bremen and Union Berlin has allowed arch-rivals Bayern Munich to draw level on points but take up the first position on account of a superior goal-difference. With the sides on collision course later this month, Dortmund cannot afford to slip-up again, and a fit and firing Guirassy could certainly keep them on their coattails.
He hasn't scored in the league since the Hoffenheim game on matchday two, firing a blank against Paderborn, Stuttgart, Bremen and Berlin. His midweek heroics though, showed the level of damage Guirassy can inflict when properly serviced.
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