Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang grabbed a hat-trick as Borussia Dortmund crushed Benfica 4-0 on Wednesday to advance to the Champions League quarter-finals.
Dortmund, who were missing the injured Mario Göetze and Marco Reus, took only four minutes to bring the tie level as the Bundesliga’s leading scorer headed Ousmane Dembélé’s floated corner in at the far post.
Dortmund took control after Christian Pulisic scored on 59 minutes.
The 18-year-old winger brilliantly chipped onrushing goalkeeper Ederson after being slid in by Lukasz Piszczek.
Aubameyang struck his second of the evening three minutes later before completing a hat-trick from close range in the 85th minute to kill off the tie.
Winger Franco Cervi twice came close to scoring a vital away goal for Benfica before the interval.
Aubameyang , who endured a dreadful evening in the first leg defeat, missing a number of chances and having a penalty saved, was back to his lethal best. His hat-trick enabled the German side secured a 4-1 aggregate victory and made the last eight of the competition for the third time in 10 years.
It was the third successive match in which Aubameyang has scored at least twice as Benfica conceded their first goals from open play in more than 700 minutes and saw a seven-game winning run brought to an end.
Christian Pulisic
Pulisic was dynamic from the start and it only took him minutes to pick up an assist as his flicked on header (yes, his day was so good that the 5’8” American picked up an assist with his head), set up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for the opening goal to bring the tie level at 1-1.
With an assist in the bag, Pulisic set about trying to put Dortmund in front. He did it by running past would-be defenders, combining with his teammates on beautiful passes and making runs that completely unraveled the Benfica defense. He was arguably the most dangerous player on the pitch and nearly helped set up two more goals before halftime.
All of that work went for naught, though. Dortmund were still level at 1-1 on aggregate and without a spot in the quarterfinals so instead of torching defenders or making pretty passes, he decided to put the ball in the back of the net himself.
And with that, Pulisic became the youngest Borussia Dortmund player to ever score in the Champions League. He also became just the seventh American to score in the world’s biggest club competition. Just a couple more things to add to an ever-growing list of accomplishments.
 to reach quarter finals){kind=link}
0 Comments