Dramatic Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund defender Felipe Santana (R) is lifted by his teammate Ilkay Guendogan after his winning goal against Malaga during their Champions League quarterfinal second leg in Dortmund on Tuesday. Photo: AFP
Borussia Dortmund scored twice in added time to seal a dramatic 3-2 quarterfinal, second-leg win at home to Malaga on Tuesday to reach the last four of the Champions League.
With Malaga leading 2-1 in the dying stages, Dortmund's Marco Reus gave his side a glimmer of hope with a 91st-minute equaliser, but the Spaniards would still have gone through on away goals.
In the frantic closing seconds, Reus managed to stab the ball across the Malaga goal for Brazilian centre-back Felipe Santana to toe the ball over the line for the crucial third Dortmund goal to put the Germans in the last four.
Dortmund go through 3-2 on aggregate after last Wednesday's first leg finished goalless and are into the semifinals for the first time since 1998.
Malaga winger Joaquin had given the Spaniards an early away goal before Poland striker Robert Lewandowski's equaliser made it 1-1 at the break.
Second-half substitute Eliseu then looked to have put Malaga in the semis in their debut season in Europe's top club competition with a goal eight minutes from time, before Dortmund produced two goals in two magical minutes.
It was heart-break for Manuel Pellegrini's side after the Malaga coach had to make a round-trip to his native Chile following the death of his father in the days before the game.
Dortmund continue their run as the only unbeaten team in the competition, but the winning goal came as late as the 93rd minute at the Signal Iduna Park.
Despite the hosts' bright start, a mistimed clearing header from Dortmund centre-back Santana gave Malaga their first chance on 25 minutes, which the Spaniards pounced on to score the early away goal the Germans had dreaded.
When the ball fell to Joaquin, the former Spain winger pulled the ball back onto his left foot, out of reach of his marker Marcel Schmelzer, and rolled his shot through the legs of Neven Subotic and past goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller.
It meant Dortmund had to score twice, but they needed only 15 minutes to draw level as Germany star Marco Reus sublimely flicked on a pass between his legs and into the path of striker Lewandowski.
Despite the attention of three defenders, the Poland star needed no further invitation to slot in his sixth goal of the competition.
Dortmund had a nervous final few seconds of the half as an unmarked Joaquin came close to netting a second for Malaga.
Lewandowski forced Willy Caballero into a diving save early in the second half, while Weidenfeller produced an outstanding parry to keep out Joaquin's header which looked destined for the bottom corner.
Eliseu looked to have wrapped it up, 12 minutes after coming off the bench, when he knocked Julio Baptista's rolling, goal-bound shot past Weidenfeller from close range to leave Dortmund reeling.
But with the hosts pushing forward frantically, left-back Jesus Gamez was tackled by Santana, and the loose ball fell to Marco Reus, who stroked it in to give Dortmund hope.
And Santana was Dortmund's 11th-hour hero when he stabbed the ball over the line in a desperate scramble after Marco Reus's shot across goal.
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