Haaland leads Dortmund over Sevilla in Champions League

Sports Desk, Mar 9 (efe-epa).- Norwegian sensation Erling Haaland scored twice Tuesday for Borussia Dortmund to nullify a brace by Sevilla’s Youssef En-Nesyri and send the German club into the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time in four years.

Dortmund led 3-2 (with two goals from Haaland) after the first leg and looked to be fully in command after the 20-year-old budding superstar gave the hosts a 5-2 advantage on aggregate.

But Sevilla, who would end the night with 69 percent possession and a 19-9 edge in shots, never relented and were pressing for the equalizer that would send the contest to extra-time when the final whistle sounded in the 97th minute.

Lucas Ocampos forced a stop from Dortmund goalkeeper Manfred Hitz in the 3rd minute, Fifteen minutes later, the Argentine created a chance for Suso, who fired wide.

Seconds after Ocampos saw a volley blocked, Haaland struck at the other end of pitch, exploiting a mix-up between the Sevilla keeper and his teammates.

Bono sent the ball in the direction of two Sevilla players, but neither of them claimed it, allowing Dortmund to pounce. Mahmoud Dahoud played it to Marco Reus, who waited for the keeper to come off his line before laying off to Haaland for the easy goal.

Thorgan Hazard missed on a chance to extend Dortmund’s lead seconds into the first half. But the reprieve for Sevilla lasted only until the 48th minute, when Haaland put a second past Bono.

The referee disallowed the goal for a foul by the attacking team during the buildup, while also awarding Dortmund a penalty because Jules Kounde tugged on Haaland’s shirt in the area.

Bono stopped Haaland’s penalty and thwarted the Norwegian’s attempt on the rebound. Yet another VAR review determined that the keeper had stepped off his line early and the kick was retaken.

Haaland converted on the second try.

Sevilla battled on and Hitz had to make stops against Papu Gomez and Oscar Rodriguez on corner kicks three minutes apart before Luuk de Jong drew a foul from Emre Can to win a penalty for the visitors with a little more than 20 minutes left in regulation.

En-Nesyri smashed the ball into the top of the net to narrow the deficit.

Bono denied Dahoud in the 84th minute to keep Sevilla alive and En-Nesyri headed in a cross from Ivan Rakitic in the 95th to make it 2-2 on the night.

But that was to be the end of the comeback and Dortmund advanced 5-4 on aggregate.

With his brace, Haaland set a new Champions League record by reaching the 20-goal mark in just his 14th appearance in the competition. EFE rz/dr