Dortmund beat Augsburg, into second in Bundesliga

Augsburg, Nov. 2: Serhou Guirassy returned to goal-scoring form as Borussia Dortmund won at Augsburg 1-0 and moved into second place in the Bundesliga.

Guirassy got the only goal seven minutes before halftime when he gathered a loose ball on the edge of the box and calmly slotted it under the goalkeeper.

After scoring four times in his first three league matches, the Guinea international failed to hit the net in the next four games but Friday's effort took him into second place in the Bundesliga scoring chart behind only Harry Kane.

It marked a timely return to form ahead of next week's visit to Manchester City in the Champions League.

Named last week as one of 10 contenders for African player of the year, Guirassy scored 21 Bundesliga goals last season and finished joint-top scorer in last season's Champions League.

Although both sides had chances after the break on a chilly night in Bavaria, they could not add to the score in a game that featured only two shots on target in the whole 90 minutes.

Dortmund was four points behind leader Bayern Munich, which has a game in hand.

Augsburg was 15th after its third consecutive defeat.

Meanwhile in Madrid, Getafe scored twice in the last quarter and beat bottom club Girona 2-1 in La Liga.

Mario Martin, the midfielder on loan from Real Madrid, put Getafe ahead when he headed home a free kick from the right with 19 minutes left on the clock. Then striker Borja Mayoral slid in at the back post four minutes from time to double the lead.

Cristhian Stuani converted a stoppage-time penalty for Girona but it was too late to stop Getafe from a first home win in four games.

The Madrid club climbed into sixth place on the table.

The win also put the brakes on Girona's mini revival. The Catalan club took just three points from a possible 21 at the start of the season but had lost only one of its last five matches before Friday. It remained on the bottom.

Simlarly in Italy, Lazio was held to a 0-0 draw at Pisa, which recorded its third straight stalemate to move out of the Serie A relegation zone.

Both teams were fresh from positive results, with Pisa having managed a draw at AC Milan on Friday, after conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, while Lazio had beaten Juventus — which resulted in the Bianconeri firing coach Igor Tudor.

Lazio came closest to scoring in the first half, amid heavy rain in Pisa, but Pisa goalkeeper Adrian Semper fingertipped Toma Basic's strike onto his left post.Lazio remained in midtable, six points below the top four, while Pisa — which is yet to win a match — moved above Hellas Verona to 17th-placed on goal difference. Head-to-head is the first tiebreaker at the end of the season.

Cagliari in crisis

Cagliari is without a win in five matches after a 2-1 loss at home to Sassuolo.

Armand Laurienté broke the deadlock in the 54th minute with a free kick and Andrea Pinamonti doubled Sassuolo's lead 11 minutes later, after Gabriele Zappa had hit the crossbar for the home side.

Cagliari forward Sebastiano Esposito scored in the 73rd to end a drought of 31 matches without a goal.

The Sardinian team was left four points above the relegation zone and four below Sassuolo.

Meanwhile, Raphael Veiga scored twice and Palmeiras overturned a 3-0 first-leg deficit with a 4-0 victory over Liga Deportiva of Ecuador to advance to the Copa Libertadores final.

Midfielder Veiga scored in the 68th and 82nd minutes after Ramon Sosa and Bruno Fuchs' first-half goals.

Palmeiras, which won the Copa Libertadores in 1999, 2020 and 2021, will take on Flamengo in an all-Brazilian final on Nov. 29 at estadio Monumental in Lima, Peru.

It guarantees Brazil an eighth title in the past nine editions of the tournament.

Flamengo, playing most of the second half with 10 men, salvaged a scoreless draw with Racing Club on Wednesday to advance 1-0 on aggregate in the earlier semifinal. (AP)