Football: Leverkusen, Bremen, HSV proceed in DFB Pokal

Thursday, 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.

March 4, 2009 19:00 (UTC+1)
	VfL Wolfsburg	2 – 5	Werder Bremen	Volkswagen Arena, Wolfsburg Attendance: 24,115 Referee: Thorsten Kinhöfer (Herne)
	Dzeko 10', 42' Pekarík 24' Benaglio 54' Schindzielorz 57' Dejagah 57' Josué 71' Okubo 74' Misimovic 74'	Report	Diego 3', 55' (pen) Özil 6', 86' Rosenburg 25', 69' Boenisch 34' Fritz 34' Naldo 43' Frings 43' Almeida 69' Pizarro 71', 89' Mertesacker 79' Tziolis 86'

Sources

• "Werder stürmt Festung der Wolfsburger" — ZDF, March 4, 2009 (German)
• "Match: VfL Wolfsburg vs Werder Bremen" — ESPN Soccernet, March 4, 2009
• "Werder win seven-goal thriller" — Fußball-Bundesliga, March 4, 2009

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.

March 4, 2009 19:00 (UTC+1)
	Hamburger SV	2 – 1	SV Wehen Wiesbaden	HSH Nordbank Arena, Hamburg Attendance: 35,378 Referee: Wolfgang Stark (Ergolding)
	Kopilas 17' (o.g.) Petrić 37' Olić 45' Guerrero 45' Rincón 62' Jarolím 62' Ndjeng 73' Jansen 73'	Report	Schwarz 14', 85' Barg 45' Glibo 45' Amstätter 50' Hollmann 50' Diakité 70' Schönheim 70'

Sources

• "HSV beseigt Wehen Wiesbaden" — ZDF, March 4, 2009 (German)
• "HSV edge past SVWW" — Fußball-Bundesliga, March 4, 2009
• "Match: Hamburg SV vs SV Wehen" — ESPN Soccernet, March 4, 2009

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 w: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.

March 4, 2009 20:30 (UTC+1)
	Bayer 04 Leverkusen	4 - 2	FC Bayern München	LTU Arena, Düsseldorf Attendance: 50,500 Referee: Florian Meyer (Burgdorf)
	Barnetta 54', 73' Vidal 61', 90' Helmes 70' Kroos 73', 77' Charisteas 89' Rolfes 87' Helmes 89' Haggui 90' Kießling 90+2'	Report	Ottl 60', 63' Podolski 63' Borowski 63' Schweinsteiger 63' Lúcio 72' Klose 74' van Buyten 83' Oddo 83' Rensing 85'

Sources

• "4:2 - Leverkusen gewinnt Pokal-Krimi" — ZDF, March 4, 2009 (German)
• "Bayer eliminate defending champions" — Fußball-Bundesliga, March 4, 2009
• "Match: Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich" — ESPN Soccernet, March 4, 2009