Jadon Sancho was once again the hero as Borussia Dortmund progressed to the DFB Cup semi-finals on Tuesday after overcoming Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-0 at Borussia-Park.

Gladbach 0-1 Dortmund
Goal: 0-1 Sancho (66')
Sent off: Dahoud (90'+3)

Gladbach had the better start and could have gone in front as early as the second minute when Jonas Hofmann was given time and space on the right to pick out a cross, which Marcus Thuram flicked wide from six yards. Lars Stindl and Marco Reus each volleyed over from promising positions in a lively opening period, but it was Erling Haaland who had Dortmund’s best opportunity of the first 45 minutes. The Norwegian spun Nico Elvedi on the halfway line to race onto Mats Hummels’ raking pass forward, but was uncharacteristically wayward in his finishing when one-on-one with goalkeeper Tobias Sippel. Thuram did have the ball in the net on the stroke of half-time after a flowing counter-attack, but it was ruled out for offside.

The visitors also had a goal chalked off early in the second half, with Haaland smashing home from Reus’ cross, but it was disallowed for a foul on Ramy Bensebaini in the build-up. Dortmund did eventually take the lead, however, doing so from a blistering counter-attack. Nico Schulz won the ball on the edge of his own penalty area and played it forward to Haaland, who immediately flicked it to the right to Reus. The BVB captain spied Sancho’s run on the opposite side of the pitch and played a superb first-time pass into the unmarked Englishman’s path, and he finished low off the post from the edge of the area. The home side reacted with a triple substitution, as Breel Embolo, Hannes Wolf and Denis Zakaria all entered the fray, but it was Dortmund who came closest to scoring again when Haaland was sent clean through with Sippel once more, but the Gladbach goalkeeper produced a superb save to keep out the striker’s stinging shot. Dortmund had Mahmoud Dahoud sent off for a second yellow card in injury time, but Edin Terzic’s side were able to hold on for a narrow win that sends them into the last four.

Match stats

• Stindl is Gladbach’s leading marksman in all competitions in 2020/21 with 13 goals, including one in the DFB Cup.
• Sancho is the top scorer in the cup this season with four goals.
• Gladbach are three-time DFB Cup winners and two-time runners-up. They reached the quarter-finals for the first time since 2016/17.
• Haaland has scored four goals in four competitive games against Gladbach. He’s netted two in four DFB Cup appearances.
• Jude Bellingham is the DFB Cup’s youngest goalscorer, aged 17 years, two months and 16 days. Gio Reyna was a week older when he opened his Dortmund account in last season’s third round.
• Dortmund won their fourth DFB Cup in 2017/18, but were knocked out in the last 16 in the following three seasons. They beat Gladbach 2-1 in the 2019/20 second round, before bowing out to Werder Bremen in the last 16.

Line-ups

Gladbach: Sippel - Lainer, Ginter, Elvedi, Bensebaini - Kramer (Zakaria 76'), Neuhaus - Hofmann (Lazaro 68'), Stindl (c) (Wolf 76'), Thuram (Embolo 76') - Plea
Unused subs: Sommer, Herrmann, Beyer, Traore, Wendt
Out: Doucoure (match fitness), Jantschke (muscular)
Coach: Marco Rose

Dortmund: Hitz - Morey, Can, Hummels, Guerreiro (Schulz 5') - Bellingham (Zagadou 90'), Delaney, Dahoud - Sancho (Hazard 68'), Haaland, Reus (c)
Unused subs: Bürki, Moukoko, Brandt, Reinier, Meunier, Reyna
Out: Akanji (muscle tear), Schmelzer (knee), Witsel (Achilles' tendon)
Coach: Edin Terzic

AS IT HAPPENED!

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