SOCCER: Last-gasp penalty sends Atalanta past Dortmund and into last 16

BERGAMO, Italy – Atalanta secured a dramatic 4-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, advancing to the Champions League last 16 with a 4-3 aggregate win.

The match was decided by a stoppage-time penalty from Lazar Samardzic after Dortmund’s Ramy Bensebaini was sent off for a studs-up challenge on an Atalanta player inside the penalty area. Samardzic calmly converted the spot kick to seal the win for the Italian side.

Atalanta opened the scoring early and added another before halftime through Gianluca Scamacca and Davide Zappacosta. Mario Pasalic’s header early in the second half gave the hosts control of the tie. Dortmund fought back with substitute Karim Adeyemi’s curled strike in the 75th minute, leveling the aggregate score temporarily, but Atalanta’s late penalty clinched their passage to the next round.

The Bergamo side will now face either Arsenal or Bayern Munich in the round of 16, with the draw scheduled for Friday.

-Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Toby Davis/Reuters