Leipzig see off Wolfsburg to enter German Cup semis

BERLIN: Yussuf Poulsen and Hwang Hee-chan netted second-half goals as Leipzig beat Wolfsburg 2-0 in the German Cup quarter-finals, while second-tier Holstein Kiel also reached the last four.

After Poulsen opened the scoring, South Korea striker Hee-chan came off the bench to hit a late second goal and seal a semi-final berth alongside Borussia Dortmund and Kiel.

The other quarter-final tie was postponed on Tuesday as Bundesliga 2 club Jahn Regensburg were quarantined after a Covid-19 outbreak before their home tie against Werder Bremen.

Hosts Leipzig, who are second in the Bundesliga, shaded visitors Wolfsburg who are one place below them in the league table.

“We fought hard and made it clear we wanted the win, even though the lads have a few games in their bones,” said coach Julian Nagelsmann, with Leipzig hoping to repeat their run to the 2018-2019 final.

Wolfsburg squandered a first-half penalty when Dutch striker Wout Weghorst slipped and skied his spotkick over the bar.

Leipzig had the ball in the net moments later but Justin Kluivert’s effort was ruled out with Christopher Nkunku offside.

The hosts got the breakthrough when Poulsen shook off his marker and fired into the bottom corner on 63 minutes.

Hee-chan made sure of the victory two minutes before the final whistle when he tapped home the rebound after Emil Forsberg had a shot saved.

The semi-finals will be held on May 1 and May 2 with the final scheduled for May 13 at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium. —