Borussia Dortmund missed the chance to take a first-leg advantage in their Champions League round of 16 tie, drawing 1-1 against Lille at Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday night. Despite taking an early lead through Karim Adeyemi's stunning strike, Dortmund failed to build on their dominance and allowed Lille to fight back in the second half.
The game started at a slow pace, with both teams cautious in the opening exchanges. However, Dortmund's quality showed after 22 minutes when Adeyemi broke the deadlock with a moment of brilliance. The German forward capitalised on a poor clearance from Lille's Alexsandro Ribeiro, striking a sublime half-volley into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. It was Adeyemi's fifth goal in this season's Champions League, further proving his importance to Niko Kovac's side.
Dortmund looked in control for the remainder of the first half, with Nico Schlotterbeck narrowly missing the target and Pascal Groß having a goal disallowed for offside. The hosts' defence limited Lille's attacking threat, with Thomas Meunier's shot into the side netting the closest the visitors came to scoring before the break.
However, the second half saw a significant improvement from Lille. The French side grew in confidence, dominating possession and pressing higher up the pitch. Their persistence was rewarded in the 68th minute when Hákon Haraldsson ran onto Jonathan David's perfectly weighted pass and slotted the ball past Gregor Kobel to equalise with Lille's only shot on target.
Dortmund struggled to rediscover their attacking rhythm, managing just one shot on target throughout the match despite having several promising opportunities. Substitute Maximilian Beier squandered a late chance, firing over from distance, while Lille defended resolutely to preserve the draw.
The game ended on a sour note for Dortmund, with Daniel Svensson forced off with an injury after a reckless challenge from Lille substitute Andre Gomes, who was fortunate to avoid a red card.
Although the result extends Dortmund's unbeaten run in home knockout matches to six games, the performance highlighted their ongoing inconsistency this season. Lille will be the happier of the two sides heading into next week's second leg in France, with the tie finely poised.
Adeyemi was Dortmund's standout performer, while Schlotterbeck and Ryerson also impressed with solid displays. However, Kovac will demand a much-improved performance if BVB is to reach the quarter-finals of the competition.
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