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Marco Reus helped himself to a hat-trick as Borussia Dortmund in full flow brushed aside Norwegian side Odds BK 7-2 (11-5 on aggregate) to progress to the Europa League group stage. Shinji Kagawa also got a brace, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Ilkay Gundogan rounded off the scoring for the German side.
Thomas Tuchel’s men seemed to be in trouble when they visited Norway for the first leg and went 3-0 down early in the game. But a revival saw them win that game 4-3 and gaining the upper hand in the tie as they headed back to the Westfalenstadion.
Dortmund were behind once again after they conceded within the first 20 minutes but from then on it was their reign till the end punctuated by brief spells when Odds seemed to come alive. Mkhitaryan snatched back control of the game with his superb long range curler to even things up on the day and take the lead on aggregate.
Marco Reus would go on to then more or less seal the tie in their favour by scoring 2 of his three goals in the space of 5 minutes. Kagawa and Gundogan then made their mark on the scoreboard either side of half-time. Odds would then get another goal through Oliver Berger but not before Reus had completed his hat-trick. The Japanese international then made it 7-2 in the 90th minute to make the scoreline even more imposing.
What should have been an easy ride for Dortmund proved to be a much more difficult task but the men in yellow and black came out victorious with an aggregate scoreline showing the gulf in class between the two sides. the good news for Tuchel is that his side seem to have found their flow once again after having a disastrous season last time around.
The German club can now set their sights back on the Bundesliga as they face Hertha Berlin this weekend.
