Dortmund fight back to beat tired Lokomotiv 2-1

Two first half goals were enough to give Borussia Dortmund a well-earned 2-1 win over a tired-looking Lokomotiv in their Champions League second round group C clash on Tuesday.

Dortmund went into half-time leading despite Lokomotiv having most of the best chances and opening the scoring with a superb Sergei Ignasevich strike from a Ruslan Pimenov pass after 31 minutes.

Previously, with only six minutes on the clock, James Oboriah scuffed an opportunity with only Dortmund keeper Jens Lehmannm to beat -- the best of four or five good early chances.

But the tide had already begun to turn before the Lokomotiv goal and some shoddy home defence allowed Torsten Frings to bring the visitors level after 33 minutes.

Jan Koller was gifted Dortmund's second goal ten minutes later, when he strolled through the home defence.

Dortmund Coach Matthias Sammer praised his team for surviving the early onslaught.

"They played better than us early on but our determination and our will to win carried us through, and paid dividends in the end," he said.

Dortmund never seemed particularly troubled in the second half and had chance after chance as Lokomotiv looked to be flagging after last week's triumphant end to their domestic campaign, but they could not add to their first half tally.

Lokomotiv Coach Yuri Syomin replaced both his attackers in the second half, but newcomers Maxim Buznikin and Baba Adamu failed to dent the well-meshed German defence and midfield, whose quick passes left the home side flatfooted.

Syomin praised the efforts of his team on a freezing evening, but said they had failed to grab their chances as well as the Germans -- which could well harm their chances of progressing further in the competition.

"I was counting on this match, it will be a lot tougher against Real Madrid in two weeks time," he said.