Mario Goetze scored a hat-trick on Wednesday as defending champions Borussia Dortmund routed Hannover 96 5-1 in the German Cup to set up a quarter-final at Bayern Munich.
“It was outstanding,” Dortmund coach Jupp Klopp said on the club’s 103rd birthday.
“The whole team played a fantastic game, with brilliant football. We’re really keen on this competition,” he added.
Photo: Reuters
The quarter-final draw was made afterward, when Dortmund managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke said he would rather have played Bayern at home.
“But it’s no problem. If you want to win the cup you have to play Bayern in any case, as we did last year,” Watzke said.
Goetze opened the scoring against Hannover with a simple finish in the third minute and Jakub Blaszczykowski made it 2-0 in the 18th, when the ball rebounded off the Polish midfielder’s chest and in after Ron-Robert Zieler saved his initial effort.
Goetze grabbed his second five minutes before the break, with a cheeky free-kick under the Hannover wall, giving Zieler no chance.
Both sides had goals ruled out for offside in the second half, when Klopp became increasingly agitated as the home side’s intensity dropped.
His fears were realized when Szabolcs Huszti crossed for Mame Biram Diouf to score in the 79th, following a poor pass from Mats Hummels.
However, Goetze completed his first hat-trick in professional soccer five minutes later when he met Robert Lewandowski’s precise cross on the volley.
“We knew we were playing at home and we knew our strengths. We wanted to progress,” Goetze said. “Now we’ve earned our break.”
Lewandowski completed the scoring in the last minute, blasting home the rebound from close range after his first effort hit the crossbar. Zieler had pulled off a great block to deny the Poland striker moments before.
“Altogether it’s a huge disappointment,” Hannover coach Mirko Slomka said.
Elsewhere in the third round, VfB Stuttgart defeated second-division Cologne 2-1 thanks to a 31st minute opener from Christian Gentner and a Vedad Ibisevic penalty five minutes later.
Christian Clemens scored the consolation for Cologne with 10 minutes remaining.
Stuttgart are next scheduled to host Bochum, who beat second-division rival 1860 Munich 3-0.
Earlier, Dutch striker Bas Dost scored in the last minute as VfL Wolfsburg came from behind to beat Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2-1.
Dost capitalized on a poor clearance from Oemer Toprak to finish off a counterattack and send the home side into a quarter-final at third-division Kickers Offenbach.
Leverkusen opened the scoring through Fagner’s own-goal in the 31st minute, when the Brazilian defender deflected Sebastian Boenisch’s cross past the helpless Diego Benaglio.
Wolfsburg deservedly equalized in the 78th, when Ivica Olic blocked Daniel Carvajal’s attempted clearance and Christian Traesch scored with a powerful effort three minutes after coming on as a substitute.
“The own-goal was bitter of course,” Wolfsburg interim coach Lorenz-Guenther Koestner said. “But after that shock that team started living again. It was an excellent end to the year.”
FSV Mainz 05 are to host Bundesliga rival SC Freiburg in the other quarter-final, with the games scheduled for Feb. 26 and 27.
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