Bayern Munich eased into the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal with a comfortable 2-0 win over Stuttgart.
Despite losing midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger to injury early in, Bayern dominated from start to finish.
Toni Kroos hit the bar from long range before Franck Ribery put Bayern in front after half an hour when he met Thomas Muller's cross to beat Sven Ulreich from six yards.
Mario Gomez doubled Bayern's lead 30 seconds into the second half and Stuttgart were unable to muster a reaction in front of their own fans.
Greuther Furth booked their place in the last four at the expense of Bundesliga side Hoffenheim.
Olivier Occean's goal in the 44th minute gave the second-division side victory over 10-man Hoffenheim, whose coach Holger Stanislawski shrugged off the increasing pressure on him.
"That is completely secondary at the moment," he told Sky. "What matters is that the lads showed what they are capable of and they kept playing courageously.
"I don't really care about anything else that appears in the papers or is said."
Marvin Compper was given his marching orders 10 minutes before half-time on a miserable night for Hoffenheim.
Hertha Berlin coach Michael Skibbe is another man under pressure after his side's hopes of reaching the final were dashed in extra time by Borussia Monchengladbach.
Roman Hubnik was sent off after giving away a controversial penalty in the 100th minute as Filip Daems put Gladbach in front.
"There were 50,000 people in the stadium and not one of them can see what the referee has seen," Skibbe said.
"The way he refereed in extra-time was just the cherry on top. I have never seen anything like it."
Oscar Wendt sealed victory with a goal with his first touch of the ball, wrapping up a 2-0 win for Lucien Favre's side in the last minute of extra-time.
Skibbe has now lost all four of his games in charge of the club since replacing Markus Babbel before Christmas.
Post Comment
