Dortmund cruise 4-0 past Gabala FK in UEFA Europa League

Borussia Dortmund booked their tickets for the next round ahead of schedule thanks to an uncontested 4-0 victory over Gabala FK on home soil after the fourth round of UEFA Europa League on Thursday.

The visitors from Azerbaijan posed no threat for Borussia Dortmund over 90 minutes allowing the hosts to reap the third win at the fourth game to remain atop the standings in Group C.

Thomas Tuchel's men took immediately the reins on home soil but failed to open the scoring after a bunch of promising opportunities. However, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came close before Marco Reus broke the deadlock. The German international midfielder made use of Mkhitaryan's build-up play to slot home from the edge of the box at the 28th minute.

Dortmund pressed harmless Gabala into defence and doubled the lead just before the break as Aubameyang unleashed a low shot form inside the box to beat Gabala's custodian Dawid Pietrzkiewicsz into the near post corner.

It remained a one-sided-affair after the restart yet Dortmund had to wait until the 67th minute before Sergei Zenjov made it 3-0 on the scoreboards for the hosts following an own goal after a corner.

Nevertheless, Dortmund kept it bowling to extend the lead as Mkhitaryan utilized a through-ball to hammer home into the roof of the net at the 70th minute.

"We lacked in accuracy at the beginning and at the end but we are very satisfied with the dominant performance of our team. Now we want to clinch the group win," Dortmund's sporting director Michael Zorc said after the clash.

With the third victory in Group C, Dortmund book their berth for the round of the last 32 with two games to spare. Meanwhile, Gabala suffered their third loss to remain on the last place.

Dortmund sit atop the standings in Group C with 10 points followed by Krasnodar (7 points), PAOK (3 points) and Gabala (1 point). Endi