Soccer

Falcao and Kylian Mbappe on target as Monaco march on

Kickoff delayed because of Dortmund’s late arrival after Police delay bus

Kylian Mbappe of Monaco is congratulated after scoring the first goal of the game at Stade Louis II. Photograph: Getty Images

Wed Apr 19 2017 - 22:12

Monaco 3 Borussia Dortmund 1 (6-3 on aggregate)

Kylian Mbappé became the first player to score in his first four Champions League knockout games as Monaco raced past Borussia Dortmund and into the Champions League semi-finals.

The 18-year-old struck early as Monaco followed up their 3-2 first-leg win in Germany with another vibrant attacking display. Radamel Falcao headed the Ligue 1 leaders into a commanding lead before Marco Reus gave the visitors hope with a 48th-minute goal, only for substitute Valère Germain to wrap up the win for the hosts 21 seconds after coming on as a substitute.

The kick-off was delayed by five minutes after the German team arrived late at the Louis-II stadium due to traffic problems, Uefa said. Dortmund said on their Twitter feed that the bus had been held up by police at their hotel for 20 minutes.

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The incident occurred a week after the first leg was postponed by 24 hours after the Borussia team bus was attacked with explosives on its way to the stadium.

Monaco, who have now scored three goals in each of their last five Champions League games, made a fast start. Benjamin Mendy’s fierce strike was parried by Roman Bürki into the path of Mbappé, who coolly slotted home to put the hosts ahead.

Dortmund came close to an equaliser when Nuri Sahin’s free-kick hit a post but the hosts doubled their tally three minutes later as Falcao perfectly timed his header to beat Bürki from Thomas Lemar’s cross.

Thomas Tuchel replaced Erik Durm with Ousmane Dembélé and the German side looked transformed after the break and they were quickly rewarded as Reus reduced the arrears when he volleyed home from Dembélé's cross after a dazzling run by the Frenchman.

Monaco, however, had a golden chance to wrap up their qualification shortly after the hour but Falcao’s chip went over the bar.

Germain replaced Mbappé and had an immediate impact as he latched on to Lemar’s cross to score seconds after coming on.

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