Berlin, April 17 (IANS) Titleholders Bayern Munich bounced into the German Cup final with a 5-1 victory over second division side Kaiserslautern on home soil Wednesday.
With the triumph the Bavarians wrapped up the top clash against rivals Borussia Dortmund in the final at Berlin Olympia stadium May 17, Xinhua reported.
Kaiserslautern were able to uphold their bulwark until the 24th minute but with the opener by Bastian Schweinsteiger the German record champions gained momentum against hapless but dedicated “Red Devils”.
From the kick-off the visitors tried to disrupt Bayern’s ball circulation, forcing the hosts to play long balls. Nevertheless, Bayern’s Thomas Mueller created the first chances when he was able to rattle the woodwork by header with just eight minutes into the game.
Yet Bayern needed a dead ball to break the deadlock as Arjen Robben’s corner into the box found Bastian Schweinsteiger, who headed home from the near post into the far post corner at the 24th minute.
Only eight minutes later Bayern doubled the lead through Toni Kroos who made use of Robben’s assist to slot home from 17 metres into the bottom right. With the 2-0 lead behind Bayern retracted, Kaiserslautern posed no threat for the host’s defence.
After the break Pep Guardiola’s men started where they left off as Thomas Mueller converted a foul play penalty in the 50th minute to make it three. In light of the 3-0 lead, Bayern waned their offensive efforts and the “Red Devils” pulled one back when Simon Zoller headed home a cross by Florian Dick at the 60th minute.
However, the Bavarians were not done with the scoring as Mario Mandzuckic and Mario Goetze rounded off the 5-1 win against visitors that were unable to put up some resistance in the closing period.
“We have done what we could do. We staged a good performance but the last goal was unnecessary,” Kaiserslautern Kosta Runjaic said.
