Serhou Guirassy scored two early goals as Borussia Dortmund held on to defeat CF Monterrey 2-1 on Tuesday night in Atlanta to reach the Fifa Club World Cup quarter-finals.
Karim Adeyemi assisted both goals to bring Guirassy’s tournament total to three.
German Berterame scored his third of the competition early in a much-improved second half for Monterrey that gave their German opponents some nervy moments, including Sergio Ramos’ header early in second-half stoppage time that went narrowly wide of the top corner.
Dortmund become the fifth and final European side to reach the last eight, and the second from Germany along with Bayern Munich. They will face Real Madrid on Saturday in East Rutherford.
Monterrey were the last of five Concacaf entrants eliminated after Inter Miami’s 4-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain.
Berterame cut Monterrey’s deficit to 2-1 with a powerful downward header after an initial cross from the left took a fortunate deflection off teammate Erick Aguirre.
Eleven minutes later, Monterrey’s Jesus Corona was played in for a one-on-one with the keeper, but he fired what would have been a leveller straight at Gregor Kobel.
Guirassy and Adeyemi combined twice in the opening 24 minutes. In the 14th, Guirassy received a pass on the edge of the 18-yard box with his back to goal and found Adeyemi next to him. Adeyemi’s instant return pass played Guirassy into a position for a low finish beyond the outstretched leg of goalkeeper Esteban Andrada.
Ten minutes later, Adeyemi chased a long ball down the right-hand side, held up play and delivered a square pass into the run of Guirassy, who drove home, giving Andrada little chance.
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Guirassy could have had a hat-trick before half-time when he fired narrowly wide of the right post after Jobe Bellingham’s feed. Three minutes later, Andrada’s remarkable recovery and save denied him after a cross from Pascal Gross.
Bellingham was shown a yellow card in the 28th minute and will miss the match against Real – and his brother, former Dortmund star Jude Bellingham.
The late game drew a crowd of 31,442 at cavernous Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where the upper deck wasn’t needed. But the sweltering US heat wasn’t an issue with the roof closed in Atlanta.
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