Sancho fires Dortmund into German Cup semis
BERLIN, Mar 3, (AP): Jadon Sancho scored to send Borussia Dortmund into the semifinals of the German Cup with a 1-0 win at Borussia Mönchengladbach.
The game’s buildup had been overshadowed by Gladbach coach Marco Rose’s move to Dortmund next season, but it was the 20-year-old Sancho who emerged as the main figure in a cagey quarter-final.
Sancho made the breakthrough in the 66th minute on a counterattack after a Gladbach corner. Nico Schulz intercepted a Florian Neuhaus pass and played the ball forward through Erling Haaland and Marco Reus, who sent Sancho on his way. The England forward fired in off the left post.
Dortmund midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud, one of several players facing their former team, was sent off in injury time with his second yellow card for a dangerous lunge at Ramy Bensebaini, who was booked for his reaction. Dahoud will miss the semifinal.
Reus, the Dortmund captain, also previously played for Gladbach, as did substitutes Schulz and Thorgan Hazard, while Gladbach’s Matthias Ginter and Jonas Hofmann previously played for their opponents.
SOCCER
It was Gladbach’s fourth straight defeat across all competitions and it stretched to its winless run to six games - Rose’s worst stretch as a coach.
Both sides missed good chances to score. Marcus Thuram should have scored early for Gladbach before Reus replied with another wasted opportunity at the other end.
Dortmund suffered a blow in between with Raphaël Guerreiro going off injured. The Portuguese wingback was lying down with his left shin-guard off after just three minutes played. Schulz came on in his place.
The next big chance fell to Haaland, but Nico Elvedi got back and somehow did enough to just put the young star off in the 36th.
Thuram had a goal ruled out for offside before the break, and Haaland had another ruled out through VAR after it. Replays showed the Norwegian caught Bensebaini, causing him to fall, before he swept in Reus’ cross.
More chances went untaken after Sancho scored.
Defender Stefan Lainer came closest for Gladbach when he fired just over with the final kick of the game.
The first quarterfinal between Jahn Regensburg and Werder Bremen was called off Monday due to a number of coronavirus infections among the second-division team.
Meanwhile, Schalke hired the relatively unknown Dimitrios Grammozis as its fifth coach of a turbulent season on Tuesday.
The 42-year-old Grammozis – a former midfielder with 143 Bundesliga appearances for Hamburger SV, Kaiserslautern and Cologne – signed a contract through June 2022, the Gelsenkirchen-based club said in a statement.