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BERLIN, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Borussia Dortmund progressed into the semi-finals after eliminating third-division side Sportfreunde Lotte 3-0 in the German Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday.
The "BVB" advanced into the semi-finals for the sixth time in row as they overpowered resilient Lotte with three second-half goals from Christian Pulisic, Andre Schuerrle and Marcel Schmelzer.
Lotte started highly motivated and worked out the first promising opportunity against Dortmund but Tim Wendel was unable to overcome onrushing goalkeeper Roman Buerki in the 11th minute.
Dortmund failed to gain a foothold into the first half as the hosts staged a well-positioned defence and posed threat on fast breaks.
After the restart, Dortmund increased the pressure to press the lower league side into defence. Yet, the "BVB" had to wait until the 57th minute before Christian Pulisic capitalized on the build up work from Ousmane Dembele to break the deadlock.
Thomas Tuchel's men gained momentum and doubled the lead through Andre Schuerrle, who volleyed home Raphael Guerreiro's header with a drop kick in the 66th minute.
Lotte were unable to put up resistance whereas Dortmund continued their relentless performance. Dembele should have tripled the lead but custodian Benedikt Fernandez denied the midfielder from close range in the 76th minute.
However, Dortmund were not done with the scoring as Marcel Schmelzer unleashed a free-kick hammer from 25 meters to round off the 3-0 win with seven minutes remaining.
"It was a tough match. We staged a poor start into the game but increased the pressure as the match progressed. After the restart we took full control of the proceedings on the pitch to secure the ticket for the next round," Dortmund's sporting director Michael Zorc said.
With the result, Borussia Dortmund booked their berth for the semi-finals where they will clash with titleholders Bayern Munich on April 25. Meanwhile, Lotto will have to focus on their domestic matters in the third division. Enditem
