Holstein Kiel 0-4 Borussia Dortmund: Lewandowski, Kagawa, Barrios and Perisic ease the Bundesliga leaders into the DFB-Pokal semifinal

Posted Wednesday, February 08, 2012 by YAHOO Sport

Borussia Dortmund earned its spot in the DFB-Pokal semifinal as it eased to a 4-0 victory over the Regionalliga side Kiel at the Holstein-Stadion.

A gap of 57 league places separate the Bundesliga leader from the fourth-tier outfit and the gulf in class was clear. Dortmund took just 11 minutes to take the lead through Robert Lewandowski before Shinji Kagawa added the second seven minutes later. Lucas Barrios and Ivan Perisic made the scoreline look more comfortable with their goals in the final 10 minutes.

Kiel almost took a surprise lead in the eighth minute when Christian Jurgensen threaded a pass to Marc Heider in the box. He shot with his first touch and his effort was straight at the body of Mitchell Langerak.

Dortmund heeded the early warning and took the lead just three minutes later. A cross from the right flank was met by Perisic who failed at an ambitious overhead kick. Lewandowski was on hand at the back post, however, to divert the wayward effort into the net.

BVB's lead was then doubled in the 18th minute after some lovely interplay on the left was followed by a switch of play to Lukas Piszczek as he stormed down the right. He ran to the line before cutting the ball back for an unmarked Kagawa to provide a ferocious finish into the roof of the net.

The Japanese should have added his second of the night moments later when he latched onto a long ball only to loop it over the keeper and the bar.

Kiel did well to stem the flow for the remainder of the half but Dortmund was still in total control without having to exert too much effort.

The hosts became more adventurous in the second half but they could not break down the Bundesliga’s joint-second best defense. Dortmund meanwhile seemed content to coast through the rest of the game, making for a rather stale affair.

It was not until the 74th minute that the Kiel keeper was called into action again. Kagawa found Piszczek surging down the right again and he cut the ball back for substitute Barrios. The Paraguayan was smothered by Morten Jensen and Kagawa could not find the net with the rebound.

Barrios was unperturbed and when Kagawa pinged the ball to Perisic on the left flank, the Croatian lofted the ball over Jensen, finding the Paraguayan striker who bundled the ball in at the back post.

With just three minutes remaining the Kiel keeper had a moment of madness when he picked up Jurgensen's back pass. Perisic tucked away the resultant free kick from just in front of the penalty spot.

Dortmund secured its spot in the semifinal without really moving out of second gear. Kiel was too respectful of the Bundesliga leader and crashed out of the tournament.