Soccer-Freiburg ease past Hamburg to reach German Cup final

HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) -Freiburg struck three times in the first half to comfortably beat second-tier Hamburg SV 3-1 away and reach the German Cup final for the first time in their history on Tuesday.

Nils Petersen, Nicolas Hoefler and Vincenzo Grifo, with a penalty, put the visitors three goals up by the 35th minute to book a place in the showpiece match on May 21 against RB Leipzig or Union Berlin, who play their semi-final on Wednesday.

Hamburg forward Robert Glatzel sent a warning to Freiburg in the fifth minute when he could have opened the scoring but his header ended up well wide of the post.

Freiburg responded and Petersen gave them the lead in the 11th minute after Hamburg goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes clawed away a shot by midfielder Hoefler but did not manage to save the follow-up strike from inside the six-yard box.

The Bundesliga side doubled their advantage six minutes later when Hoefler tried his luck again from the edge of the box and this time fired the ball under the crossbar after defender Sebastian Schonlau failed to block the effort.

Italian Grifo made it 3-0 10 minutes before halftime, bringing up his 12th goal of the season with a coolly-taken spot kick that sent Heuer Fernandes the wrong way after the penalty was awarded following a foul on Nico Schlotterbeck.

The home side could have pulled one back before the break, but Anssi Suhonen's shot in the 38th was disallowed by referee Deniz Aytekin due to an offside, after a VAR intervention.

Hamburg, who play in the second division after relegation in the 2017–18 season, finally gave their fans in the 57,000 crowd something to cheer when Glatzel nodded home in the 88th minute, leaving keeper Mark Flekken with no chance.

Freiburg, who are fifth