Borussia Dortmund placed one foot in the Champions League quarter-finals by scoring four away goals in this evening's last-16 first-leg victory over Zenit St Petersburg.
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Dortmund had a 2-0 lead at half time before an end-to-end second half saw four more goals, with last year's runners-up Dortmund coming through 4-2 in Russia.
The visitors found the net twice inside the first five minutes to silence the Petrovsky Stadium.
First, Henrikh Mkhitaryan finished from close range in the fourth minute after a lung-busting run from Marco Reus, before Reus himself squeezed a volley in at the near post a minute later.
There were few chances before the break but then the floodgates opened in the second 45.
Zenit halved the deficit in the 56th minute when the ball fell Oleg Shatov's way after Salomon Rondon had hit the post.
Dortmund soon restored their two-goal advantage when Robert Lewandowski dug out a shot from Lukasz Piszczek's cutback.
Zenit pulled another back through Hulk's penalty in the 69th minute, but again they failed to remain one behind for long as Lewandowski stroked home on the break from Reus's pass.
The return leg takes place in three weeks' time.
Pascal Lemesre
