Dortmund: Last season's Champions League runners-up Borussia Dortmund beat Napoli 3-1 with a stellar offensive performance on Tuesday to earn a lifeline and stay in the hunt for a knockout stage spot.
Germany international Marco Reus converted a 10th minute penalty and Jakub Blaszczykowski added another goal on the hour as the Germans bounced back from a string of bad results.
Lorenzo Insigne's 71st minute strike seemed to have set up a nervous finale to the Group F match but Dortmund substitute Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made sure of the three points with his first Champions League goal seven minutes later. The win lifted Dortmund into second place ahead of Napoli with both teams on nine points behind group leaders Arsenal who have 12 points after a 2-0 win over Olympique Marseille.
All three teams are in contention for a place in the last 16 going into the final round of matches on December 11.
"We knew it would be a spectacular game but I did not expect so many chances," Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp told reporters. "We wasted a lot of opportunities but (Napoli goalkeeper) Pepe Reina made some great saves."
Dortmund, who got a first win after three straight defeats in all competitions including a 3-0 Bundesliga loss to rivals Bayern Munich, visit Olympique Marseille in their last group match when a win would secure a spot in the knockout stage.
"We wanted to give our fans and ourselves something to celebrate," Dortmund defender Kevin Grosskreutz told reporters.
"We deserved to win. After Napoli scored I asked (captain)Sebastian Kehl if the result was still in our favour," he said, referring to the permutations in a tightly-contested group.
"Our coach explained it to us yesterday but I did not fully understand it at the time," he said.
Napoli were in no mood to play for a draw, with coach Rafa Benitez fielding an offensive formation with four players supporting lone striker Gonzalo Higuain.
QUICK BREAKS
Dortmund, with their backs to the wall and missing their entire first choice defence through injury, got off to a perfect start when Reus converted an early spot kick awarded for a handball by Raul Albiol.
With the goal settling their nerves, the Germans poured forward and stiker Robert Lewandowski should have added another five minutes later but his shot, with only Reina to beat, sailed narrowly wide.
Reus then tried to beat the Spaniard with a clever free kick but Reina palmed it away from goal.
Napoli, eager to get their season back on track after two straight league defeats, briefly took the initiative and Jose Callejon came agonisingly close to an equaliser when his shot hit the base of the far post aftet a fine run down the right.
But it was Reina who was the busiest stopper, twice more denying Poland international Lewandowski as Dortmund desperately looked for a second goal.
The hosts continued to torment the Italian defence in the second half, upping the tempo and forcing Reina, who is on loan from Liverpool, to make several superb saves.
He could do nothing, however, when Reus found Blaszczykowski in the box, allowing the Pole to slot the ball home for a two-goal cushion on the hour.
Insigne cut the deficit after a fine pass from Higuain but Gabon international Aubameyang completed yet another quick break with a fine chip in the 78th minute to kill off any Italian hopes of a comeback.
"Our mentality is to try to win every game against any opponents and I think we played the right way today," Napoli's Benitez said. "However, we were facing one of the best counter-attacking teams in Europe and it was not easy after going down so early in the game."
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