Serhou Guirassy scored late to help Borussia Dortmund win 2-1 against promoted St. Pauli in the Bundesliga on Friday, easing some pressure on the team before their match against Real Madrid.
Substitute Jamie Gittens energized Dortmund’s attack, getting past a defender and crossing the ball for Guirassy to head in the winning goal in the 83rd minute, just five minutes after Eric Smith had tied the game for St. Pauli with a powerful shot.
Dortmund had controlled the game from the beginning but struggled to turn their possession into scoring chances. St. Pauli’s goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj stopped Guirassy twice when he seemed likely to score.
Ramy Bensebaini opened the scoring in the 43rd minute with a header from Pascal Groß’s cross.
St. Pauli had a goal from Morgan Guilavogui disallowed by VAR for offside in the 30th minute.
Dortmund’s next match is against Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday. The two teams faced each other in last season’s Champions League final, which Madrid won 2-0.
Dortmund had been under pressure after losing 2-1 to Union Berlin before the international break. Nuri Sahin’s team now has four wins from their first seven Bundesliga games.