LEIPZIG, Germany (Reuters) -Holders RB Leipzig beat toothless Borussia Dortmund 2-0 to reach the German Cup semi-finals on Wednesday and snap their three-game losing run across all competitions.
Leipzig, desperate to end their recent losing streak that has seen them drop to fifth place in the league, pressed high from the start and carved out chance after chance against a dazed Dortmund team.
The visitors still looked to be feeling the effects of Saturday’s 4-2 loss to league leaders Bayern Munich, and were unable to stop the waves of early Leipzig attacks or mount any offensive challenge of their own.
With a total of two shots on goal and both coming in second-half stoppage time, Dortmund were no match for Leipzig’s power, with the hosts managing 20 shots.
“We showed a very good reaction and now we know again how to win football matches,” said Leipzig coach Marco Rose. “I hope it will have a positive effect on us now. When you lose three in a row you start to question yourself.”
“You can make plans and talk a lot but you need to do it on the pitch and today we did it and deserved to win,” Rose said.
The hosts’ dominance paid off after 22 minutes when Germany forward Werner, who had earlier gone close, tapped in to give Leipzig a well-deserved lead.
Dortmund briefly tried to come back in the second half but they were lucky not to concede a second goal when Konrad Laimer broke clear in the 78th but failed to beat keeper Gregor Kobel in a one-on-one.
Even the introduction of Anthony Modeste, a third Dortmund striker, in the 85th minute did not help Edin Terzic’s team get the equaliser, with Leipzig keeper Janis Blaswich making a superb stoppage-time save.
Instead it was Leipzig who scored again on the break with Willi Orban sealing their victory.
“They ate us up in the first half,” Dortmund captain Marco Reus said. “We stabilised in the second half but we had few to none chances over 90 minutes and were far too harmless.”
Dortmund have now won only one of their last five matches in all competitions, including a Champions League Round of 16 loss to Chelsea, and have dropped to second place in the Bundesliga, two points behind Bayern, with eight games left.
The Bavarians crashed out of the Cup on Tuesday following a shock 2-1 home loss to Freiburg while Eintracht Frankfurt advanced with a 2-0 victory over Union Berlin.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Toby Davis)
