Bayern, Inter through to Cup quarters

Published December 17, 2015
MUNICH: Darmstadt 08’s Sandro Wagner (R) vies for the ball with Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer during their German Cup last-16 match at the Allianz Arena.—AP
MUNICH: Darmstadt 08’s Sandro Wagner (R) vies for the ball with Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer during their German Cup last-16 match at the Allianz Arena.—AP

LONDON: On a busy day of domestic cup action across Europe on Tuesday, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan punched their tickets to the quarter-finals.

Bayern, top of the Bundesliga and through to the knockout stage of the Champions League, needed a long-range goal from Spaniard Xabi Alonso to secure a 1-0 victory over Darmstadt 98 that put them into the German Cup last eight.

Rodrigo Palacio, Marcelo Brozovic, and Ivan Perisic scored as Serie A leaders Inter cruised into the quarter-finals of the Italian Cup with a 3-0 win over second tier Cagliari.

In Spain, Sevilla, Espanyol, Real Betis and Deportivo La Coruna all advanced to the last 16 of the Copa Del Rey to join already-qualified Barcelona and Cadiz.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Lille continued their resurgence under new boss Frederic Antonetti as they reached the quarter-finals of the French League Cup with a 1-0 win over second-tier Laval.

ALONSO THUNDERBOLT

Bayern laboured to overcome a well-organised Darmstadt, and did not create many chances against the Bundesliga newcomers at Munich’s Allianz Arena.

Alonso eventually made the breakthrough when he launched a spectacular strike from outside the area which hit the top left-hand corner and gave Darmstadt goalkeeper Christian Mathenia no chance five minutes before the break.

MILAN: Inter Milan’s Danilo D’Ambrosio (C) haeds the ball under pressure from Cagliari’s Luka Krajnc and Simone Benedetti during their Italian Cup match at the San Siro.—AP
MILAN: Inter Milan’s Danilo D’Ambrosio (C) haeds the ball under pressure from Cagliari’s Luka Krajnc and Simone Benedetti during their Italian Cup match at the San Siro.—AP

“Even I wouldn’t have tried to pull that one off,” said Bayern’s impressed Germany striker Thomas Mueller when asked about Alonso’s strike.

Werder Bremen, struggling in the Bundesliga, came from a goal down to beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 4-3 with Peruvian veteran Claudio Pizarro scoring one goal and setting up another.

Fellow Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen also staged a comeback to beat fourth division Unterhaching 3-1 while second-division Heidenheim beat third-tier Erzgebirge Aue 2-0 to make it to the quarter-finals for the first time.

ALESSANDRIA SHOCK GENOA

Palacio’s close-range tap-in opened the scoring on 24 minutes for Inter at the San Siro and Brozovic all but sealed the match with 20 minutes to go with a stunning strike from outside the area into the far corner.

Perisic came off the bench in the latter stages and completed the scoring with a fine individual effort of his own nine minutes from time to set up a quarterfinal against Napoli or Hellas Verona.

RENNES (France): Toulouse’s Wissam Ben Yedder shoots to score during the French League Cup match against Rennes at the Route de Lorient Stadium.—AFP
RENNES (France): Toulouse’s Wissam Ben Yedder shoots to score during the French League Cup match against Rennes at the Route de Lorient Stadium.—AFP

Alessandria became the first third tier club to reach the Italian Cup quarter-finals in more than 30 years as their giant-killing run continued with a 2-1 extra-time victory at Serie A strugglers Genoa.

Alessandria, who beat another top-flight side — Palermo — in the previous round, will face either Roma or Spezia after Manuel Marras scored the opener and set up Riccardo Bocalon’s 114th-minute winner.

WOLFSWINKEL DOUBLE

Ricky van Wolfswinkel scored twice in a pulsating 3-3 draw at Sporting Gijon as Betis booked a place in the Copa del Rey last 16 with a 5-3 aggregate victory.

It was a spirited performance in the return match from Gijon, who had lost the first leg 2-0, especially in the second half with substitute Alen Halilovic grabbing a double, including a penalty.

Deportivo held on to a 1-1 home draw against second-division Llagostera to advance 3-2 on aggregate while Ciro Immobile and Jose Antonio Reyes gave Sevilla a comfortable 2-0 win over Logrones, cruising into the next round 5-0 on aggregate.

Burgui and Felipe Caicedo netted as Espanyol came from behind after a Verza opener to beat Levante 2-1 and win 3-2 overall.

LILLE ADVANCE

Djibril Sidibe struck 11 minutes from time at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy to send the Ligue 1 side through the quarter-finals of the French League Cup and extend Lille’s winning run to four matches in all competitions.

Guingamp twice recovered from a goal down at home to Nice as Yannis Salibur netted at the end of normal time and again in extra time, cancelling out a pair of strikes from Alexandre Mendy, before converting the decisive penalty in a 4-3 shootout victory following a 2-2 draw after 120 minutes.

Wissam Ben Yedder grabbed a brace for Toulouse in a 3-1 win at 10-man Rennes, while Lorient eased past Ligue 2 leaders Dijon 3-0 with goals from Benjamin Jeannot, Romain Philippoteaux and Walid Mesloub.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2015

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