Berlin, Feb 10 (IANS): Dortmund progressed for the third consecutive time into the semi-finals after beating Stuttgart 3-1 on the road in the German Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday.

Borussia Dortmund follow Werder Bremen into the last four of the German Cup as Thomas Tuchel's men overcame resilient Stuttgart 3-1 thanks to the goals by Marco Reus, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

The visitors from Dortmund caught a bright start as Marco Reus opened the scoring with just five minutes into the encounter. The Germany midfielder made use of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's square pass into the box to tap home, Xinhua news agency reported.

Stuttgart kept it bowling and responded in the 21st minute through Lukas Rupp, who hammered home a rebound from the edge of the box to restore parity.

Dortmund remained unfazed and let the ball do the work before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang utilized Marco Reus' through ball to mark Dortmund's 2-1 lead at the 31st minute.

After the break, Dortmund started where they left off but neither Marco Reus nor Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were able to double the lead. As the match progressed, the "Swabians" increased their efforts to create opportunities but Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Buerki was on guard to deny Filip Kostic and Christian Gentner from promising positions.

The "BVB" caught Stuttgart flatfooted and made the game safe in the closing period after Aubameyang teed up for Mkhitaryan, who completed a counter attack into the open goal.

"We staged a battle in the second half but did not manage to equalize the scores. We came close, but to lose to Dortmund is not rare," Stuttgart coach Juergen Kramny said.

"Although we squandered many chances in the second half, we made a perfect game," Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel said.

The following quarterfinal fixtures are scheduled for Wednesday: second division side Heidenheim host Hertha Berlin and second division club Bochum face Bayern Munich.