Dortmund beat Shakhtar Donetsk 3-1 to progress to Champions League knockout play-offs

Jan 29 (Reuters) - Borussia Dortmund cruised through to the knockout phase play-offs of the Champions League with a 3-1 home win over Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday, with Guinean striker Serhou Guirassy grabbing two first-half goals as the Ukrainian side were eliminated.

With the top eight teams going straight through to the last 16 and those placed from ninth to 24th headed to the two-legged play-offs for the remaining eight spots, beaten 2024 finalists Dortmund finished the league phase in 10th place with 15 points. Shakhtar finished 27th on seven points.

Guirassy struck in the 17th and 44th minutes to send his side in 2-0 up at the break, but a dreadful error by Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel gifted Shakhtar's Marlon Gomes a goal to reduce the deficit early in the second half.

However, any hope the visitors had was extinguished when Dortmund's Ramy Bensebaini scored with a cool chipped effort in the 79th minute to wrap up the three points for the hosts and end Shakhtar's European adventure for this season. (Reporting by Philip O'Connor; editing by Clare Fallon)