Immobile scores 1, sets up 1 in Lazio 3-1 win over Dortmund
ROME (AP) — Playing in the Champions League group phase for the first time in 13 years, Lazio looked like it couldn’t wait to return.
The Roman club scored two early goals in a convincing 3-1 win over Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday.
European Golden Shoe winner Ciro Immobile netted the first against his former club, and Dortmund goalkeeper Marwin Hitz scored an own-goal when a shot was deflected in off his head.
Erling Haaland pulled one back for Dortmund in the 71st but Jean-Daniel Akpa-Akpro restored Lazio's two-goal advantage five minutes later.
“It was an incredible feeling — after so many years to take this club back into the Champions League,” Immobile said. “There was that extra special flavor. We played a perfect game and are enormously satisfied with the performance.”
In the other Group F opener, Club Brugge stunned Zenit St. Petersburg with a stoppage-time winner from Charles De Ketelaere to win 2-1.
A crowd of 1,000 fans was allowed in to the Stadio Olimpico and the supporters were quickly on their feet when Immobile chipped in a delightful goal after just six minutes.
Taking a rolling cross from Joaquín Correa, Immobile used one touch to lift the ball past the charging Hitz and into the far corner.
It was Immobile’s fifth career goal in the Champions League -- with his previous four having come while playing for Dortmund in 2014-15.
Immobile lasted only one season at Dortmund.
“I’ve always said that I arrived in Dortmund at the wrong time of my career and of the team’s generational shift,” Immobile said.
Less than 20 minutes after Immobile's goal, a header by the near post from Luis Felipe bounced in off Hitz following a corner.
The match had been billed as a duel between prolific scorers Immobile and Haaland, and the 20-year-old Haaland also needed just one touch to score with a rising shot into the roof of the net.
Immobile scored 36 goals in 37 Serie A matches last season, while the 20-year-old Haaland has 17 goals in 19 Bundesliga appearances for Dortmund.
Immobile got behind the defense on a counterattack and pulled the ball back for Akpa-Akpro to finish.
___
More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
___
Andrew Dampf is at https://twitter.com/AndrewDampf
Top 100 Players In The 2026 FIFA World Cup, Ranked
2026 World Cup Round of 16 Odds: Which Teams Will Make It?
2026 World Cup Schedule: All Games, Dates, Matchups and How To Watch
NASCAR Power Rankings: New No. 1 Tops List After Nashville
Cowboys QB Dak Prescott: Rookie Caleb Downs Has 'Contagious' Confidence
What's Next: Why Myles Garrett Can Now Become the GOAT Pass-Rusher
2026 NFL Preview: Ranking The 18 Non-Playoff Teams On Who Most Likely Gets Back In
Super Bowl Locations, Dates for 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030?
Browns Trade Star DE Myles Garrett To Rams
Top 100 Players In The 2026 FIFA World Cup, Ranked
2026 World Cup Round of 16 Odds: Which Teams Will Make It?
2026 World Cup Schedule: All Games, Dates, Matchups and How To Watch
NASCAR Power Rankings: New No. 1 Tops List After Nashville
Cowboys QB Dak Prescott: Rookie Caleb Downs Has 'Contagious' Confidence
What's Next: Why Myles Garrett Can Now Become the GOAT Pass-Rusher
2026 NFL Preview: Ranking The 18 Non-Playoff Teams On Who Most Likely Gets Back In
Super Bowl Locations, Dates for 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030?
Browns Trade Star DE Myles Garrett To Rams
