Monaco beat Dortmund 3-2 in UEFA Champions League

BERLIN, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Kylian Mbappe's brace secured Monaco a 3-2 away victory over Dortmund, at the first leg of the UEFA Champions League's quarterfinal on Tuesday.

Monaco wrapped up a vital win at Dortmund as the double from Mbappe and the own goal from Sven Bender was enough to edge the hosts, whose two second-half goals keep them in contention.

The "BVB" ensured a good start into the game as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang unleashed a hammer, which missed the target just wide with 11 minutes into the game.

However, the visitors from Monaco had the golden chance to break the deadlock moments later as Sokratis Papastathopoulos brought down Mbappe inside the box to cause a penalty. Fabianho stepped up but pulled wide from the spot.

Monaco kept it bowling and opened the scoring after Thomas Lemar's cross into the box found Mbappe, who tapped home the opener with 19 minutes played.

Things went from bad to worse for the hosts as defender Sven Bender headed home Andrea Raggi's dangerous cross into the area into the wrong goal to double the lead for Monaco.

After the restart, Thomas Tuchel's men piled on the pressure and pressed the visitor into defence to pull one back as Ousmane Dembele tapped home Shinji Kagwa's square pass into the empty net in the 57th minute.

Dortmund pressed frenetically for the equalizer but it were the visitors who restored their two-goal lead against the run of the game. Mbappe intercepted Lukasz Piszczek's pass and sprinted towards onrushing goalie Roman Buerki to slot home the 3-1 lead in the 79th minute.

The hosts remained unimpressed and reduced the arrears again as Kagawa utilized Matthias Ginter's cross to make it 3-2, giving his side hope for the second leg in Monaco.

"The team showed their unbelievable character. We have won the second half. Our spirit in the second half was simply great," Dortmund's coach Thomas Tuchel said.

The second leg for the Champions League quarterfinal tie is scheduled for Wednesday April 19.