Dortmund beat Bilbao 4-1 to claim first Champions League group win

Borussia Dortmund beat Athletic Bilbao 4-1 on Wednesday at Signal Iduna Park to claim their first victory of the Champions League group stage and preserve an unbeaten start to the season across all competitions. Daniel Svensson opened the scoring in the 28th minute and Carney Chukwuemeka doubled the lead shortly after the break before Gorka Guruzeta pulled one back for Bilbao. Serhou Guirassy restored Dortmund's two-goal cushion late on and Julian Brandt added a stoppage-time strike to complete the win.

Dortmund dominated much of the first half, keeping Bilbao largely away from goalkeeper Gregor Kobel and breaking the deadlock when Karim Adeyemi outpaced defenders and cut back for Svensson to finish at the far post. Five minutes after the interval Chukwuemeka threaded in a finish from a tight angle to make it 2-0. Bilbao, missing injured forward Nico Williams, grew into the game after conceding and reduced the deficit through Guruzeta in the 61st minute after a defensive mix-up. Athletic thought they had an equaliser soon after, but Robert Navarro's goal was ruled out for offside.

The home side found a fortuitous route back to control in the 82nd minute when Marcel Sabitzer's...