BORUSSIA DORTMUND VIED with Chelsea for the best comeback of a wild night in the Champions League.
While Chelsea came from 4-1 down to draw 4-4 with the nine men of Ajax, Dortmund gave their Champions League hopes a fillip with a 3-2 win at home to Inter Milan.
Lautaro Martinez and Matias Vecino had put the visitors in the driving seat at Signal Iduna Park, two weeks on from their 2-0 defeat of Lucien Favre’s side in Milan.
Dortmund came roaring back in the second half, though, with Achraf Hakimi netting a double either side of a Julian Brandt strike to secure what could prove to be a valuable victory.
Martinez became the first Inter player to score in three consecutive Champions League appearances since Samuel Eto’o in 2010 when he raced down the right, cut back into the box past the covering defence and side-footed high beyond Roman Burki.
It was a deserved lead for the visitors, who were keeping Dortmund restricted to half-chances, with Mario Gotze denied by Samir Handanovic from the best of their early openings.
After 40 minutes it was 2-0 thanks to a flowing counter-attack. Marcelo Brozovic showed great footwork, Martinez turned and spread the ball out to Antonio Candreva, and his cut-back was swept into the net by the arriving Vecino.
Dortmund started the second half brightly and got a goal back when Hakimi scuffed the ball into the left-hand corner after being teed up by Gotze.
Pressure was building on Inter and they gifted Dortmund their equaliser 13 minutes later, making a mess of a throw-in near their own box to allow Brandt to steal in and slot past Handanovic.
The comeback was completed 13 minutes from time, when Hakimi raced into the box from the right wing to dispatch Jadon Sancho’s pass beneath Handanovic.
That result, coupled with Barcelona’s 0-0 draw at home to Slavia Prague, leaves Dortmund a point behind leaders Barca. Inter, meanwhile, lie three points behind Dortmund with Slavia Prague a further two points back.
Elsewhere tonight, RB Leipzig and Lyon took charge of Group G with wins over Zenit and Benfica respectively. Leipzig were 2-0 winners over Zenit in the early game, while Memphis Depay was among the scorers as Lyon beat Benfica 3-1.
Leipzig top the group on nine points, with Lyon two further back on seven. Zenit lag in third with four points.
