Wolfsburg crush Bielefeld 4-0 to face Dortmund in German Cup final

  

Wolfsburg showed no mercy with giant killers Bielefeld as they made the game safe within 55 minutes in the German Cup semi-finals at outsold Schueco-Arena on Wednesday.

Wolfsburg will face Dortmund at the German Cup final in Berlin' s Olympia stadium on May 30 as the "Wolves" overran lower league side Arminia Bielefeld with two goals in each half. Thus, Bielefeld's fairy tale journey came to an end after eliminating three top-flight with Bremen, Berlin and Monchengladbach on their way into the semis.

Dieter Hecking's men dominated the encounter in all departments as third division side Bielefeld failed to make an impression with their harmless offensive performance. Hence, the "Wolves" broke the deadlock with just eight minutes into the game when Daniel Caligiuri passed into the path of Maximilian Arnold, who curled the ball into the top left corner.

The hosts were unable to respond whereas Wolfsburg doubled the lead at the half-hour mark as Bas Dost headed a free kick by Ricardo Rodriguez into the path of Luiz Gustavo whose header dropped into the near post corner.

Despite the one-sided affair Wolfsburg were able to uphold their concentration after the restart when the "Wolves" tripled the lead with six minutes into the second half. Ivan Perisic got his name on the score sheets when he tapped is Caligiuri's second assist at the far post.

The visitors from Lower Saxony were not done with the scoring as Maximilian Arnold sewed up his brace and made the game safe at the 55th minute by slotting home a rebound from inside the box. With the 4-0 victory Wolfsburg cruise into the final for the second time in the German Cup history.

"We were absolutely focused today. We wanted to reach the final by all means," Wolfsburg's coach Dieter Hecking said after the game.

Before the final against Dortmund, runner-up Wolfsburg encounter Hannover in the Lower Saxony derby at the 31st round of Bundesliga on Saturday.

ARNOLD BRACE HELPS WOLFSBURG CLINCH FINAL BERTH

Wolfsburg's hopes of a victorious end to the season remain alive after a Maximilian Arnold-inspired 4-0 win at third-tier Arminia Bielefeld set up a DFB-Pokal final against Borussia Dortmund.

Dieter Hecking's team had been in the hunt for honours in both the UEFA Europa League and Bundesliga before its campaign threatened to unravel, but this routine triumph leaves just Jurgen Klopp's Dortmund standing between Wolfsburg and silverware.

While Dortmund endured a testing semi-final against Bayern Munich, needing a penalty shootout to prevail, Wolfsburg never looked in danger of such troubles after Arnold's eighth-minute opener.

Luiz Gustavo nodded in the second with 31 minutes played before a quick-fire double early in the second half – Ivan Perisic's 51st-minute tap-in quickly followed by Arnold's second.

Wolfsburg will now look to prevent Klopp ending his Dortmund tenure in triumphant fashion in the Berlin final on 30 May.

Few would have expected Bielefeld to offer much resistance to its Bundesliga opponent and somewhat unsurprisingly it only managed to remain level until the eighth minute.

Daniel Caligiuri bided his time on the edge of the area and eventually picked out the late run from Arnold, who emphatically placed his first-time effort into the top-left corner from 16 yards.

Wolfsburg continued to dictate proceedings, but a lapse in concentration at the back allowed the host a chance to break down the right in the 23rd minute.

The move ended with Fabian Klos's eventual shot appearing to strike the arm of Ricardo Rodriguez right on the edge of the box, only for referee Tobias Welz to ignore Bielefeld's furious protests.

And Wolfsburg made the most of that let-off just after the half-hour mark.

Bas Dost nodded Rodriguez's pinpoint free-kick delivery back into the danger area and Luiz Gustavo was on hand to head past the helpless Alexander Schwolow.

For all Wolfsburg's first-half dominance, it was almost pegged back right after the interval.

Diego Benaglio misjudged Florian Dick's deep free-kick and was only rescued by the crossbar before Klos sliced over the empty net from the rebound.

Any confidence attained from that double chance was swiftly dashed by the visitor in the 51st minute.

Perisic tapped in at the far post after a clever pass courtesy of Caligiuri and Caligiuri was instrumental again four minute later, causing havoc in the area before Arnold smashed in from point-blank range.

Wolfsburg's quick double ended the contest and, although a late injury to Marcel Schafer reduced it to 10 men, Hecking's side cruised into only its second DFB-Pokal final.