Christian Pulisic had a hand in all three goals as Marco Reus scored a penalty in injury-time of extra-time to book Borussia Dortmund's place in the DFB Cup third round at the expense of Bundesliga 2 side Union Berlin.
2018/2019 DFB Pokal
3-2
Match Events
10' CHANCE! Pulisic's header saved
40' GOAL! Dortmund 1-0 Union Berlin (Pulisic)
Goal! Borussia Dortmund 1, FC Union Berlin 0. Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund) right footed shot from very close range to the bottom left corner.
42' OFF THE BAR! Kenny Redondo almost scores
52' CHANCE! Guerreiro's shot over the bar
63' GOAL! Dortmund 1-1 Union Berlin (Polter)
Goal! Borussia Dortmund 1, FC Union Berlin 1. Sebastian Polter (1. FC Union Berlin) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Robert Zulj with a through ball.
73' GOAL! Dortmund 2-1 Union Berlin (Philipp)
Goal! Borussia Dortmund 2, FC Union Berlin 1. Maximilian Philipp (Borussia Dortmund) right footed shot from the right side of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Christian Pulisic.
82' CHANCE! Philipp's shot saved
88' GOAL! Dortmund 2-2 Union Berlin (Polter)
Goal! Borussia Dortmund 2, FC Union Berlin 2. Sebastian Polter (1. FC Union Berlin) header from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Robert Zulj.
120' PENALTY GOAL! Dortmund 3-2 Union Berlin (Reus)
Match Report
A much-changed Dortmund rode their luck early on and had reserve goalkeeper Marwin Hitz to thank for keeping promotion hopefuls Union at bay. Pulisic settled the nerves late in the half, though, tucking away the rebound from Shinji Kagawa’s header to give BVB the lead with his third goal of the campaign. Union almost levelled straight away, but Kenny Prince Redondo’s fierce strike came back off the crossbar.
Dortmund carried the greater threat after the restart as Raphael Guerreiro fired over and shot narrowly wide from range, before Union restored parity somewhat against the run of play through substitute Sebastian Polter. The Berlin club were level for only 10 minutes, however, with Maximilian Philipp collecting from Pulisic and leaving Rafal Gikiewicz no chance with the finish. Only a fine Gikiewicz save denied Philipp his second of the night.
More drama was to come as Union hit back with two minutes of normal time remaining. It was the same combination that produced their first goal, with Robert Zulj crossing for Polter to power in an unstoppable header and force extra-time. Hitz brilliantly denied Simon Hedlund, but Union soon began to tire, and when Pulisic went down in the box under a challenge from Marvin Friedrich in added time - the Union defender seeing red - Reus stepped up to sink the ensuing penalty and send Dortmund through.
Line-ups
Dortmund XI: S. Kagawa, Toprak, M. Hitz, Philipp, Weigl, Wolf, Diallo, Dahoud, Pulisic, A. Hakimi, Zagadou
Subs: A. Witsel, M. Reus, R. Bürki, Raphaël Guerreiro, Alcácer, J.B Larsen, Sancho
Union Berlin XI: R. Gikiewicz, Schmiedebach, Hübner, Christopher Trimmel, S. Andersson, R. Zulj, C. Lenz, G. Prömel, K. Redondo, Friedrich, Marcel Hartel
Subs: K. Reichel, M. Parensen, S. Polter, A. Gogia, J. Jensen, Simon Hedlund, S. Abdullahi