Holders Bayern Munich face Borussia Dortmund in next month’s DFB Pokal final after cruising to a 5-1 win over second-division Kaiserslautern in Wednesday’s semi-final.
Bayern reached their third consecutive domestic cup final by bouncing back from back-to-back Bundesliga defeats to see off Kaiserslautern, who had knocked out top-tier sides Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Hertha BSC en route to the semis.
Goals by Bastian Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos, Thomas Mueller, Mario Mandzukic and Mario Goetze saw Bayern go through to the May 17 final at Berlin’s Olympiastadion.
Photo: Reuters
The Bavarian giants, who wrapped up this season’s Bundesliga title with a record seven games to spare, face Dortmund, who shocked Bayern 3-0 in Munich in the Bundesliga last Saturday, in a repeat of last season’s UEFA Champions League final.
Pep Guardiola’s Bayern had few problems against the Red Devils as Germany midfielder Schweinsteiger hit the crossbar and then headed home an Arjen Robben corner with 24 minutes gone.
Kroos doubled the hosts’ lead at the Allianz Arena on 32 minutes to make it 2-0 at the break.
Photo: AFP
Robben then won a penalty five minutes into the second half when he was fouled by Kaiserslautern defender Chris Loewe and Mueller fired home the spot-kick.
Kaiserslautern striker Simon Zoller headed home a consolation goal on the hour mark, with his side surviving on less than 30 percent possession, before Mandzukic netted the hosts’ fourth to end any hopes of a fightback.
The Croatia international, who scored a hat-trick in the 5-0 quarter-final drubbing of Hamburg SV, then converted a Goetze cross on 78 minutes.
Goetze tapped home Bayern’s fifth just before the final whistle as the attacking midfielder beat Kaiserslautern’s off-side trap.
On Tuesday, Poland striker Robert Lewandowski hit his 100th goal for Dortmund as they beat VfL Wolfsburg 2-0 in the other semi-final.
The 25-year-old has vowed to leave the club having delivered silverware this season and faces his future employers Bayern in the final.
Lewandowski, who will join the Bavarian giants at the end of the season, scored a hat-trick in the 2011-2012 DFB Pokal final when Dortmund routed Bayern Munich 5-2.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB