Dortmund outplay Shakhtar to reach Champions League quarters
Berlin, March 6 : German side Borussia Dortmund reached the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time since 1998 with a 3-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk at Westfalenstadion Tuesday night.
After the hard earned two-all draw at the first leg, goals by Felipe Santana, Mario Goetze and Jakub Blaszczykowski were enough to ensure a last eight berth, Xinhua reports.
The Germans took the reins with the kickoff to work out the first chance of the match when Mario Goetze's through ball found Robert Lewandowski, who was unable to beat Shakhtar keeper Andriy Pyatov in the 12th minute.
With 31 minutes into the match, Dortmund's Felipe Santana broke the deadlock as he headed home a corner by Marco Reus to the near post.
The hosts piled on the pressure to add the second to the scoreboards as Lewandowski crossed into the box to find Mario Goetze, who poked home between two Shakhtar defenders in the 37th minute.
At the opening period of the second half, Donetsk substitute Douglas Costa threatened the hosts with two promising chances.
However, the goals were scored at the other end of the pitch as Shakhtar keeper Pyatov spilled a shot by Ilkay Guendogan to see Jakub Blaszczykowski slotting home into the open goal in the 59th minute.
"This is an exceptional moment for us. The team staged extraordinary performances in this competition. Today we played an incredible match," said Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp.