Champions League Round-up: Borussia Dortmund grab 2-0 win over Monaco to top their group




Borussia Dortmund beat AS Monaco 2-0 on Tuesday to finished top of Champions League Group A ahead of Atletico Madrid.
The victory took Dortmund on to 13 points and meant they won the group thanks to a better head-to-head record against the Spaniards, who drew 0-0 at Club Bruges.

Raphael Guerreiro got both goals for the Germans, the first when he tapped in following a fine counter-attack with a quarter of an hour gone and the second two minutes from time when he curled a shot into the top corner from around 10 metres out.

It was another fine performance by Dortmund, who even without several of their rested regulars extended their season's record to 17 wins, four draws and just one defeat in all competitions.

Monaco, who were destined to finish bottom of the group even before the game, suffered their 14th European match without a win and ended the group in last place with just one point, five points behind Bruges.

Atletico Madrid were denied top place in Group A after a goalless draw away at Club Bruges in Belgium meant they finished second behind Dortmund. The Germans started the final match day two points behind Atletico, but by beating Monaco 2-0 away ended tied on 13 points with the Spanish club and took top place based on the head-to-head scores between them.
Bruges finished third in the standings and will play in the Europa League in the new year.

There were few scoring chances at the Jan Breyel Stadium, with the home team coming closest in the 74th minute when defender Luan Peres was denied, minutes after coming on for his debut in European club competition.


Porto also grab 3-2 away victory over Galatasaray but the Turks stayed third in Group D and secured a spot in the Europa League's round of 32. Porto, who had already secured top spot in the group, took the lead against the run of play in the 17th minute with a well-timed Felipe header from a free kick.

Moussa Marega doubled the lead when he converted a 42nd minute penalty, finding the net for the fifth successive group-stage match. The hosts, who needed a win to make sure of third place, had failed to score in the competition since September but did break their goal drought with a penalty of their own from Sofiane Fenghouli in first-half stoppage time.

The Portuguese weathered a Turkish offensive early in the second half and restored their two-goal cushion when Marega pounced on a defensive mistake and Sergio Oliveira finished off a quick move.

The Turkish side reduced the deficit through Eren Derdiyok in the 65th minute and could have drawn level if Algeria international Feghouli had not hit the crossbar with his second penalty a minute later.


Lokomotiv Moscow were equally eager for a win against already-qualified and injury-hit Schalke 04 to have any hope of snatching third place away from Galatasaray.
They could not find the back of the net, however, against the lacklustre Germans, who had already clinched second place and a spot in the competition's knockout stage.

Schalke struck in stoppage time through Alessandro Schoepf to condemn the Russians to fourth place on three points, one behind Galatasaray.
Porto finished top of Group D on 16 points and undefeated, with Schalke second on 11.

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