Dortmund downs Hertha, sets up date with Bayern in DFB-Pokal final

Berlin - Borussia Dortmund will face Bayern Munich in the German Cup final on May 21 after its comprehensive 3-0 semi-final win at Hertha Berlin on Wednesday.

A first-half goal by Gonzalo Castro, plus late second-half strikes from wingers Marco Reus and Henrikh Mkhitaryan sealed Dortmund's deserved win at Berlin's Olympic Stadium.

Munich's 2-0 win over Werder Bremen on Tuesday means that Germany's top two teams will meet again when Dortmund plays Bayern in a repeat of the 2012 and 2014 Cup finals.

Dortmund was dealt a blow before kick-off as top scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang dropped out with a foot injury.

Tuchel had said the Gabon international, who has scored 37 goals in all competitions, had the all clear to play despite breaking off the last five minutes of Monday's training session.

But the knock flared up an old injury Aubameyang picked up in their quarter-final win over Stuttgart in February and his place against Hertha went to Colombia striker Adrian Ramos, who scored twice in Sunday's 3-0 league win over Hamburg.

Aubameyang had netted in each of Dortmund's last seven German Cup games dating back to the start of last season.

Dortmund took a deserved lead when Mkhitaryan won the ball on the right, Shinji Kagawa fired in the cross and Castro was unmarked on the edge of the area to blast home on 21 minutes.

It was a weak start from Hertha who seemed overawed by the occasion at its sold out 76,233 stadium as Dortmund dominated the early stages.

A slip by Hertha's U.S. defender John Brooks on 75 minutes allowed Reus the space in the area to fire home Kagawa's final pass.

Dortmund then completed the rout when Mkhitaryan finished off a good counter-attack with Reus again popping up to provide the final pass with the Hertha defence in tatters.

Dortmund will hope for a repeat of its impressive 5-2 win over Bayern in the 2012 final when striker Robert Lewandowski netted a hat-trick against his future employers.

Munich then claimed revenge two years ago with a 2-0 extra-time win in the 2014 final.