Kampala, Uganda | XINHUA | Borussia Dortmund progressed into the second round of the German Cup after moving 5-0 past third division outfit Duisburg on Monday.
The “BVB” smoothed the way for their win with three first-half goals, while Dominic Volkmer’s red card before half-time left Duisburg hopeless.
The lower league side had the worst possible start on home soil as Maximilian Sauer’s handball allowed Jadon Sancho to break the deadlock from the spot with just 14 minutes played.
Dortmund gained momentum and pinned Duisburg in their territory before Thorgan Hazard’s back-heel pass found youngster Jude Bellingham, who made no mistake to make it 2-0 from inside the box in the 30th minute.
Eight minutes later, things went from bad to worse for Duisburg as Volkmer felled Erling Haaland as the last man to receive his marching orders.
Haaland remained center stage as he drilled the subsequent free-kick from the edge of the box into the top-left corner to make it 3-0.
Duisburg tried to keep pace but the “BVB” continued their relentless march, as Giovanni Reyna’s deflected free-kick left goalkeeper Leo Weinkauf helpless five minutes into the second half.
Lucien Favre then brought on Marco Reus for his return after a long injury lay-off, and the German international paid back his trust seconds later, beating Weinkauf following a free-kick at the hour mark.
Dortmund remained in full control of proceedings and should have added a sixth goal, but Julian Brandt lacked accuracy in the closing period.
“The game was in fact over after my team saw a straight red card. However, my team tried their best to avoid a worse defeat,” Duisburg head coach Torsten Lieberknecht said.
Elsewhere, fourth division Rot-Weiss Essen caused a surprise by knocking out newly-promoted Bundesliga side Arminia Bielefeld thanks to a first-half goal from Simon Engelmann.
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XINHUA