Holders Bayern march into last four
BERLIN - Holders Bayern Munich eased into the German Cup semi-finals with a 4-0 win at second division Alemannia Aachen on Wednesday but fellow Bundesliga clubs Kaiserslautern and Hoffenheim went out to lower-tier clubs.
Led by new captain Philipp Lahm after Dutchman Mark van Bommel joined AC Milan on Tuesday, Bayern took the lead after 25 minutes with Mario Gomez tapping in a Luiz Gustavo low cross.
Aachen had a brief good spell in the second half but Thomas Muller sealed Bayern's ticket when he fired in through the legs of keeper David Hohs in the 75th minute.
The Germany international added another with a low drive from 14 metres four minutes later and Arjen Robben, who came on as a substitute, completed the rout in the 88th minute.
The win is expected to take some pressure off Bayern coach Louis van Gaal, at odds with club bosses over some of his decisions, including the release of captain van Bommel after four and a half years.
A goal from Chinese Shao Jiayi six minutes from time sent second division Energie Cottbus through with a 1-0 win over Hoffenheim with their new signing Ryan Babel from Liverpool in the starting line-up.
Duisburg threw out another Bundesliga team when they beat Kaiserslautern 2-0.
On Tuesday Schalke 04 needed a last minute goal in extra time from 17-year-old Julian Draxler to advance 3-2 past Nuremberg.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
‘Arteta, Alonso, Emery, me… none of us were physical players – we needed the understanding of the game. That probably helped us move into management’: Premier League boss reveals reasons for natural career progression
‘England have the players to win the World Cup – it’ll be tough for Thomas Tuchel to do a bad job, with the squad he has at his disposal’ Former Three Lions winger backs new boss after gentle qualifying draw