Dortmund, March 11 (IANS) Marco Reus' brace helped Borussia Dortmund to beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 on home soil in the first leg of the Europa League's last 16 here.
The German football club on Thursday laid a solid framework for the second leg after overcoming the visitors from north London thanks to the goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Reus, reports Xinhua.
Tottenham rested a number of key players and posed absolutely no threat to Dortmund's well positioned defence. The hosts took the reins from kick-off to create goal scoring opportunities through Gonzalo Castro and Aubameyang in the opening period.
Dortmund's dominant display was rewarded 30 minutes into the match after Marcel Schmelzer's pinpoint cross into the box found Gabon's Aubemeyang, who headed home the opener into the bottom right.
Erik Durm nearly doubled the lead before the break but Tottenham defender Ryan Mason blocked the shot on target in the nick of time.
Thomas Tuchel's men remained in control of the proceedings after the restart and started where they had left off. Gonzalo Castro had a golden chance to double the lead but rattled only the outside of the right-post from a sharp angle in the 51st minute following an Aubameyang rebound.
The "BVB" turned their dominance into a two-goal lead in the 61st minute as Reus hammered home Neven Subotic's header assist at the far post.
The uninspired visitors were unable to put up enough resistance, allowing Dortmund to triple the lead nine minutes later. Reus wrapped up his brace after a combination via Aubameyang and Castro reached the German international inside the box.
With the result, Dortmund remain unbeaten since December whereas Tottenham will have to turn around a 3-0 deficit in next week's second leg.
"We dominated the game. Nonetheless, with a better chance conversion we would have won with a higher result," said Dortmund's sporting director Michael Zorc.
