Brilliant Beier blasts Borussia Dortmund into quarter-final berth

BVB made the trip to Lille this evening for the second-leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie which ended in a 2-1 win for Niko Kovac’s side.

Borussia Dortmund advance to the quarter-finals of Europe’s premier competition with a hard-fought, come from behind victory over LOSC Lille in the Stade Pierre-Mauroy this evening.

A warm atmosphere greeted the hosts as Dortmund looked to upset the early mood, but those plans were torn up inside 5 minutes as Lille took the lead.

Karim Adeyemi had his pockets picked by Ismaily. The Brazilian hit the left flank to cross for Jonathan David. Amazingly, the Canadian’s tame strike seemed to catch Kobel by surprise as it crept through his legs.

Lucas Chevalier kept Dortmund at bay nearing the 20th-minute as Groẞ and Ryerson were spectacularly denied. The resulting corner created chaos in the box with several BVB players including Guirassy unable to penetrate a red and blue wall of Lille defenders on the goalline. 

Chances fell the way of both teams before the interval as Benjamin André nodded wide. Once again it was Pascal Groß who got on the end of a Sabitzer cross – the German guiding it marginally over the bar.

Dortmund restored parity nine minutes into the second-half as ex-BVB man Thomas Meunier sent Serhou Guirassy tumbling as he chased a Maxi Beier pass. Emre Can stepped up to thrash the resulting spot-kick down the middle of Chevalier’s goal. 

Although Hákon Haraldsson stung the palms of Gregor Kobel from range, BVB’s assault on the Lille goal continued as a swift counterattack afforded Adeyemi space. The 23-year-old cracked the aluminium with his first-time strike as Chevalier remained rooted.

Suddenly, Die Schwarzgelben surged into a 2-1 lead on 65 minutes. Ryerson and Guirassy combined to free up space for Beier. One touch and a pivot into space allowed the attacker to open his body and rifle the ball into the top left corner. 

As Niko Kovac turned to his substitutes bench, Lille started to apply the pressure. David latched onto a Haraldsson cross – Kobel laid claim to the strike with firm hands. A final opportunity for Chuba Akpom yielded nothing as BVB advance.