Football: Leverkusen, Bremen, HSV proceed in DFB Pokal

March 5, 2009 In Germany's DFB Pokal, the three remaining quarterfinal fixtures took place Wednesday. First Bundesliga sides Werder Bremen, Hamburger SV, and Bayer Leverkusen will join Second Bundesliga side 1. FSV Mainz 05 in the semifinals, scheduled for April 21 and 22, 2009. The finals for Germany's FA Cup equivalent will be played on May 30 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.

VfL Wolfsburg v Werder Bremen
The day's first matches started at 19:00 local time (18:00 UTC), and got off to a quick start. Three goals were scored in the first ten minutes, it was 1 - 2 for Bremen at that point. Diego scored on a shot from just outside the box after three minutes; after another three minutes, Mesut Özil ran past a confused Wolfsburg defence and knocked it in from 5 metres. Wolfsburg were not fazed by the two early goals, with striker Edin Dzeko answering back with a shot past the helpless Nico Pellatz after ten. Werder had a chance for a third goal in the twenty-first from Chelsea loan Claudio Pizarro. It was all Bremen in the second half; a third goal came from Diego in the fifty-fifth, off of a penalty kick awarded because of a tackle in the box from Diego Benaglio. Goals from Pizarro in the seventy-first put Bremen up 2 - 4, but Wolfsburg refused to give in. Pizarro knocked another one in one minute from full-time, which ensured Bremen's trip into the semifinal.

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Hamburger SV v SV Wehen Wiesbaden
SV Wehen Wiesbaden, currently in last place in the Second Bundesliga, faced a formidable challenge in the form of the First Bundesliga's second place team, Hamburger SV. Things didn't start off well for Wiesbaden, as Marko Kopilas scored a dreaded own goal seventeen minutes into the game. Nevertheless, Wiesbaden unleashed a flurry of chances, from David Jarolim (twenty-second), Jonathan Pitroipa (twenty-fifth) and Paolo Guerrero (thirty-second). Mladen Petrić would score in the thirty-seventh, and HSV seemed assured of victory. Sandro Schwarz scored for Wiesbaden in the eighty-fifth minute, but by then it was too late for the visitors. The win marks HSV's first trip to the semifinals since 1999.

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Bayer 04 Leverkusen v FC Bayern München
The final game of the night kicked off at 20:30 local (19:30 UTC). FC Bayern München, the defending champions and one of Germany's most popular clubs, took on Bayer 04 Leverkusen at the latter's temporary home of LTU Arena. It quickly became evident that this would be Leverkusen's game to lose. Patrick Helmes led the offence for Leverkusen, having several chances in the first 20 minutes. Tranquillo Barnetta shot one just wide of the post in the twenty-second. The game went into half-time without a goal. Bayern's offence saw little action in the first half, as they were missing Phillipp Lahm and Luca Toni. Adding to the difficulty was, as broadcaster ZDF put it, "nothing at all to see" from Franck Ribéry. Bayern's only chances in the first forty-five were off of mistakes by Leverkusen; specifically, an errant deflection by Stefan Kießling in the twelth and a misstruck backpass by Gonzalo Castro in the sixteenth.

In the second half, Leverkusen were finally rewarded in the fifty-fourth by a shot from Bernetta which slipped into the right corner past Bayern keeper Michael Rensing. Arturo Vidal would score in the sixty-first, followed by Patrick Helmes nine minutes later. After that goal, Bayern's offence begin creating chances. Lúcio and Miroslav Klose would score in the space of two minutes to bring the visitors within one. This was not to be Bayern's day, however; Kießling notched another goal in stoppage time to deny Bayern their chance to defend the cup. For Leverkusen, it is the first time they have reached the semi-finals since 2002, and their first-ever defeat of Bayern in the Pokal.

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