Derby County Under-19s continue to make history as they book their place in the UEFA Youth League Round of 16 following a 3-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund at Pride Park Stadium.
The young Rams will now wait to find out their next opponent in the draw on Friday 14th February.
A lethal five minutes immediately following the break saw the Rams take hold of the game after a goalless first half. First, Eiran Cashin knocked after a goalmouth scramble from Morgan Whittaker’s corner.
The forward was amongst the action minutes later to set up Jordan Brown as he rifled in Derby’s second.
The German side pulled one back midway through the second-half through Reda Khadra but Louie Sibley struck in added time to secure the historic win.
Dortmund imposed their strong, high-pressure presence from early on and almost took the lead after six minutes when Youssoufa Moukoko powered his way in the left side of the area and struck across goal only to be denied by a strong palm of Bradley Foster.
Just three minutes later, the opposite goalkeeper was called into action when Morgan Whittaker’s inswinging corner met the head of Lee Buchanan and his effort was tipped over.
As the young Rams settled into the game, more chances fell. Soon after, another delivery from Whittaker, this time from a free-kick saw Cashin send a shot just wide. Then on the 16-minute mark, a swift counter-attack again almost saw Derby take the lead. Cashin blasted the ball away from a Dortmund player deep in the Derby half and it fell to Sibley who drove forward before feeding out to Whittaker to the right, but his low effort forced a strong save by Luca Unbehaun.
The Rams defence was put to the test in quick succession just after the half-hour mark. The visitors got a very lucky drop from the ricocheted ball in the area that fell to Ansgar Knaff in front of goal. At the last moment when he looked to slot past Foster at the near post, he elected to square across goal, but Callum Minkley was there to make an important block.
Moments later, a slip in the Derby back line saw Moukoko fly into the area and take on Foster in the left side of the box. The Rams keeper did brilliantly to deny his first strike, but it rebounded back to the Dortmund forward who saw his second attempt fly over.
A lethal five-minute spell after the break turned the game on its head as Derby took control. Two minutes into the second-half, Louie Sibley drove into the area and was brought down, but his protests for a penalty were waved off. The run did result in a corner and another superb delivery from Whittaker.
The Rams forward sent the ball into the area which the German side were unable to clear. After a goalmouth scramble it was Cashin who was finally able to stab the ball home.
It didn’t take long for the lead to be doubled in a move that started and finished with J. Brown with a lovely bit of skill from Whittaker sandwiched in between. The Rams midfielder sent a lovely ball down to Whittaker on the edge of the box. He took a brilliant touch to beat his man before picking out J. Brown on the edge of the box to rifle his shot that took a deflection before flying into the back of the net.
Dortmund pulled one back just after the hour mark when Khadra was played through and poked the ball past Foster.
The visitors had a final chance to level the score from Khadra’s free-kick on the edge of the box, but Foster pulled out an important save to punch it away.
The Rams sealed the victory in added time when he was played through by Tyree Wilson. The midfielder flicked the ball up the struck on the bounce into the back of the net to see Derby through to the Round of 16.
Derby County: Foster; Minkley, Cashin, Buchanan; Ebosele, Thompson (Dixon, 79), J. Brown, A. Brown; Whittaker, Sibley; Stretton (Wilson, 83)
Unused Subs: Halwax, Charles, Bardell, Rogers, Matthews
Borussia Dortmund: Unbehaun; Terzi (Amedick, 89), Ferjani (Hetemi, 79), Schell, Gockan’ Knauff (Rauch, 79), Raschl, Pherai, Khadra; Moukoko, Bakir (Gurpuz, 68)
Unused Subs: Klußmann, Knoop, Schlusselburg