Christiano Ronaldo struck a brace as Real Madrid outclassed Borussia Dortmund 3-1 to register their second victory in the group stage of this season's Champions League here.
Dortmund's chances to progress to the knockout stages have been minimised after suffering the second defeat in as many games in Group H on Tuesday evening, reports Xinhua news agency.
Real Madrid now share the top spot in Group H along with Tottenham Hotspur followed by Dortmund and Apoel Nicosia.
Ronaldo played a big role for Real Madrid after providing two second-half goals in his 150th European game.
Both sides started in an attacking mode and hosts Dortmund were able to put pressure on the Real Madrid defence.
However, it were the visitors who worked out the first chance of the game when Daniel Carvajal tested Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Buerki from the edge of the box with ten minutes played.
Maximilian Philipp ensured a chance for Dortmund at the other end of the pitch when he forced Real Madrid custodian Keylor Navas to make a diving save four minutes later.
Nevertheless, Real Madrid grabbed the lead when Gareth Bale opened the scoring with a volley from inside the box following a pinpoint chip from Carvajal in the 18th minute.
Real Madrid should have doubled the lead before the break as Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos missed opportunities from promising positions.
Dortmund had the chance to restore parity after the restart but defender Raphael Varane blocked Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's shot on target following a cross from Andrey Yarmolenko one minute into the second half.
Real Madrid staged a clinical chance conversion and scored with their next chance as Gareth Bale sprinted away on the left wing and square passed into the box where Ronaldo tapped home the two-goal lead in the 50th minute.
Dortmund were able to reduce the arrears out of the blue only four minutes later when Aubemeyang benefited on a cross from Gonzalo Castro to make it 2-1 on the scoreboard.
The hosts piled on the pressure but the visitors from Spain destroyed all hopes of a comeback as Ronaldo capitalized on an assist from Luka Modric to seal the deal and the brace in the 79th minute.
"We staged a poor defensively performance. We played against a good team but nonetheless we have to defend better than that," Dortmund's coach Peter Bosz said.
--IANS
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