Hunde in Not » Brian Kingman. "It certainly hurts to lose two imp

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- Robert Lewandowski scored twice as Borussia Dortmund took a big step toward the Champions League quarterfinals with a 4-2 victory at Zenit St. Petersburg on Tuesday. Losing finalists last year, Dortmund made a blistering start with Henrikh Mkhitaryan scoring in the fourth minute and Marco Reus doubling the visitors lead a minute later. Zenit, which hadnt played a competitive game since Dec. 11 due to the Russian winter break, looked rusty, but pulled one back through Oleg Shatov in the 57th. Lewandowski replied four minutes later, after playing a one-two with Poland teammate Lukasz Piszczek. Then Piszczek conceded a penalty and Hulk scored emphatically from the spot in the 69th. Lewandowski responded by scoring his sides fourth away goal two minutes later to leave Dortmund firmly in control before the second-leg of the round-of-16 tie on March 19. "We were close to optimal this evening," Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp said. "It was a great game, no question." After more than two months without competitive football, the home side buckled early on under the visitors pressure and struggled to keep up with their quick passing game. The tactics quickly paid off for Dortmund when Reus ran at the Zenit defence, staying on his feet when he might have been awarded a penalty, before Mkhitaryan swept the loose ball past Yuri Lodygin. The visiting fans were still celebrating when Kevin Grosskreutz knocked Mkhitaryans cross back for Reus to volley inside the right post. "We stayed compact. We wanted to pressure them to win back the ball. That was very important," Dortmund captain Sebastian Kehl said. "We brought the game in the right direction and made Zenit uncertain." Zenits attacking midfielder Andrey Arshavin went off with what looked a hamstring injury in the 15th minute, and last-gasp defending from its captain Nicolas Lombaerts prevented Lewandowski from getting Dortmunds third shortly afterward. Zenit was let down by sloppy play and nervous defending, with Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, who came on for the injured Arshavin, giving the ball away cheaply to highlight his sides travails. Hulk was fired up but his shot failed to trouble Roman Weidenfeller and his only reward for taking on three Dortmund defenders was a corner, which came to nothing. Lodygin pulled off a good save to deny Lewandowski three minutes after the interval, before Zenit responded with a period of pressure. It finally paid off when Shatov scored in fortuitous fashion. Marcel Schmelzer cleared Hulks effort off the line and Jose Rondon struck the post from the rebound, before the loose ball fell kindly for Shatov to blast home. Dortmund soon replied, with Lewandowski playing a one-two with Poland teammate Lukasz Piszczek and firing beyond Lodygin, who got a touch to the ball. The home side was given a lifeline when Piszczek was adjudged to have fouled Viktor Fayzulin. Hulk duly obliged with his penalty. But Lewandowski provided another immediate response after Tymoshchuk lost possession. Reus sent the ball into the Poland strikers path and he fired inside the far corner for his sixth of the campaign. "I dont have the feeling that it was easy," Klopp said in response to a question from a Russian journalist. "I think we had to work very hard." The game was played with the section normally occupied by Zenits ultra fans closed due to racist behaviour, fireworks and crowd disturbances during a group stage loss at Austria Vienna on Dec. 11. There was also tight security in place around the Petrovsky Stadium to prevent any further trouble. Zenits Italian coach Luciano Spalletti said the tie was not yet decided and that his side still has a chance of going through. "In football theres always a chance of coming back," Spalletti said. "Everything depends on what kind of performance you deliver. It all depends on what you put into it, how much youre prepared to run. It depends on your effort." 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Hi Kerry, Love reading your column and loved watching your analysis on the TSN broadcasts!And were now in Round 2! Bruins! Canadiens! We know all about the great games of the past from the players, the broadcasters and the writers.ANAHEIM, Calif. -- John Jaso came up big again as a pinch-hitter with a home run against Los Angeles Angels closer Ernesto Frieri, a year and five days after doing the same thing to Kevin Jepsen at Angel Stadium -- a place where Jaso just loves to hit. Jasos go-ahead, two-run shot in the ninth inning sent the Oakland Athletics to a 3-2 victory Monday night. Yoenis Cespedes also went deep for the As, offsetting Albert Pujols 496th home run. Frieri (0-1) was trying to preserve a 2-1 lead for starter Hector Santiago when Josh Donaldson led off the ninth with a single and Cespedes flied out. Jaso batted for Derek Norris and drove a 1-2 pitch deep into the right-field seats for his first homer of the season and the first by an As pinch-hitter. "Donaldson hit that ball hard to start off the inning, and it kind of started there," Jaso said. "I think Cespy just missed a pitch, too, so we definitely had some good swings going and some good momentum against Frieri. "He showed me one changeup earlier in the at-bat and got a strike, so I thought he was going to go back with an off-speed pitch -- especially after I fouled off a couple of his fastballs," Jaso added. "But he came back with another heater and left it out over the plate. My timing was a little bit better on that particular pitch, and it looked really good to hit." Jaso has six homers and 21 RBIs at Angel Stadium along with a .424 average, the highest by any player with at least 75 plate appearances at the "Big A." "He got a really good pitch to hit and the ball went out," Frieri said. "In that situation, hes looking for something middle-in to drive in the air -- especially when they have a man on base. He hit a mistake pitch. Dont get me wrong, he made good contact, but I was trying to go down and away." It appeared Frieri needed more consoling from Santiago than vice versa. "I closed in 2012, so I know how it is, man. Youve got to have a short memory and forget about it," Santiago said. "Hes going to close more games than he blows. He said Sorry to me, but I told him: No, dont worry about it, man. Were all out here battling. I could have given up aa two-run homer and given up the lead in the seventh.dddddddddddd" Santiago allowed a run and five hits while striking out three in his fourth start for the Angels after spending his three previous big league seasons with the Chicago White Sox. A two-out homer by Cespedes in the fourth was Oaklands only run against the left-hander. The Angels lost a replay challenge in the ninth after Howie Kendrick was ruled out by first base umpire Chris Segal on a grounder in the hole that second baseman Nick Punto bobbled before throwing to Daric Barton. Jim Johnson (1-2) got the victory with a scoreless eighth, and Luke Gregerson earned his second save. Jesse Chavez allowed two runs -- one earned -- and four hits in seven innings with nine strikeouts and no walks. Oaklands starting pitchers have yielded three earned runs or fewer in every game so far, the second-longest streak by an As rotation at the beginning of a season since a 16-game stretch in 1981, when manager Billy Martins starters were Mike Norris, Rick Langford, Matt Keough, Steve McCatty and Brian Kingman. "It certainly hurts to lose two important guys like (Jarrod) Parker and (A.J.) Griffin," manager Bob Melvin said. "But when you have guys like Jesse Chavez and Tommy Milone that are going to step in and hold the fort down and compete at a high level, thats what we expect from those guys. So we have the depth." Pujols, closing in on 500 homers, a celebrated milestone achieved by 25 players in major league history, has four homers and eight RBIs in his last six games after driving in only one run in 30 at-bats over his first seven games. The three-time NL MVP also had an RBI single in the opener of a 19-game season series between the AL West rivals, who have combined to win 11 division titles over the past 14 years. The two-time Gold Glove first baseman frustrated the As in the eighth by starting a slick double play on Jed Lowries grounder. NOTES: Oakland CF and leadoff hitter Coco Crisp didnt play because of tightness in his left hamstring. ... Los Angeles 3B David Freese was 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. He has five hits and 13 Ks in his first 43 at-bats with the Angels. ' ' '