Kaiserslautern cruise into German Cup last four with 3-1 win at Hertha

BERLIN : Kaiserslautern eased past hosts and fellow second-tier club Hertha Berlin 3-1 on Wednesday to book a spot in the German Cup last four, a decade after their last semi-final appearance.

Kaiserslautern coach Dimitris Grammozis made no changes to his line-up that crushed Schalke 04 4-1 and the decision quickly paid off for the visitors.

They took a fifth-minute lead when Jan Elvedi rifled home after Hertha failed to clear a free kick floated into the box.

Richmond Tachie completed a quick move with a fine shot from the edge of the box to make it 2-0 and pile pressure on the hosts.

Hertha, who reached the last four in 2016, had a chance to cut the deficit three minutes after halftime but Haris Tabakovic could not beat keeper Julian Krahl from six metres.

Kaiserslautern scored again as Filip Kaloc pounced on a Hertha error in midfield, charging through and drilling in a low shot from outside the box to kill off the game.

Fabian Reese managed a stoppage-time consolation goal for Hertha.

Second division Fortuna Duesseldorf are through to the semi-finals. Bayer Leverkusen host VfB Stuttgart and Saarbruecken take on Borussia Moenchengladbach next week in the other quarter-finals.