Borussia Dortmund reached the final of the German League Cup pre-season tournament for the first time by beating VfB Stuttgart 1-0 despite playing with 10 men for most of Monday's game.

Dortmund, who lost their league title last term after finishing third, had goalkeeper Jens Lehmann sent off in the 15th minute for bringing down Germany striker Kevin Kuranyi.

The six-times German champions, who had never gone further than the semi-finals since the event was created seven years ago, will meet either Bayern Munich or Hamburg SV in the final next Monday in Mainz.

Stuttgart, Bundesliga runners-up last season, missed a penalty, midfielder Horst Heldt hitting the post following Lehmann's red-card offence.

Czech striker Jan Koller headed the winner against the run of play two minutes from the break. The winners get 1.28 million euros in prize money as well as a morale boost for the new season kicking off on August 1. 

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