Goals from Luiz Gustavo and Ivan Perisic, along with Maximilian Arnold's brace, led Wolfsburg to a convincing and well deserved 0-4 win over Arminia Bielefeld in the DFB-Pokal semi-final. Arnold and co. have set up a final with Borussia Dortmund on May 30th, which should be quite the spectacle.
Arminia's unbelievable season continued to go from strength to strength, with a 4-0 win over Rot-Weiss Erfurt taking them five points clear at the 3. Liga summit with four games to go. Coach Norbert Meier made two changes to that team, bringing in Christian Müller and Stephan Salger for David Ulm and Manuel Hornig.
Wolfsburg's late defeat to Borussia Mönchengladbach confirmed that they could no longer catch Bayern Munich, meaning this was the only competition they had left to play for. The quarter-final defeat to Napoli a week prior, in the Europa League, had dented their chances of an unlikely treble, so Dieter Hecking named a strong side. Vieirinha and Bas Dost, in place of Christian Träsch and Niklas Bendtner, were the only two alterations from the beaten side of Sunday past.
An even start looking to be a sign of things to come, although Stephan Salger sloppily gave away possession and Wolfsburg took advantage. Daniel Caligiuri picked the ball up and drove inside, he played a lovely reverse pass to Maximilian Arnold and the young midfielder finished emphatically from 18 yards. His cultured left-foot bent the ball into the top corner with his first and only touch, giving the traveling support an early boost.
The goal seemed to be an anomaly, in what was a very solid start from the hosts. They weren't creating much going forward but Hecking's men were limited to lacklustre counter attacks, which rarely challenged Alexander Schwolow in goal. Diego Benaglio had to rush out to make a hurried clearance, although Schwolow had to be alert to deny Caligiuri at his near post.
As the half wore on Wolfsburg's possession was continuing to rise and rise, and with it the home fans whistles. On the half hour, all that time on the ball paid dividends and the Wolves added a second. It came from a free-kick and the delivery was pin-point from Ricardo Rodriguez, as he picked out Bas Dost at the back post. The Dutch attacker nodded across to Luiz Gustavo, who powerfully headed home from four yards out and left Schwolow with no chance.
Both sides attempted to add to their leads in the minutes leading up to half time, though the final ball was lacking on a regular basis and that cost both Fabian Klos and Dost when trying to get their heads to the crosses. Neither team could add a second, as Tobias Welz brought a frantic first period to an end.
The second forty-five nearly got off to a surprising and equally promising start for Bielefeld. A long-range set-piece from Florian Dick caught out everyone, including Benaglio, before landing on the bar-post joint and bouncing to Klos. Unfortunately for the hosts, he couldn't force the ball home under pressure.
That would be as good as it got for the Westphalians, with Wolfsburg going up the other end and extending their lead. Some beautiful play between Kevin de Bruyne, Caligiuri and Ivan Perisic led to the latter sliding home the former Freiburg's midfielder pass at the back post and effectively ending any hopes of a comeback.
Arnold added yet another goal soon after, taking advantage of a mistake from Schwolow. The Bielefeld stopper pushed Caligiuri's cross into the path of Arnold, who had his first shot saved brilliantly before ruthlessly smashing home the rebound and notching up his brace.
Substitute Hornig finally mustered the first shot on target for Bielefeld, although it was straight down the throat of Benaglio. Wolfsburg weren't letting up and were denied a clear penalty for a foul on Dost, something which greatly frustrated the visiting fans.
Christoph Hemlein had one last throw of the dice for the hosts, though it was easy pickings once more for the Wolves' Swiss stopper. That was their last hurrah with their fate sealed a long time before-hand.
Wolfsburg advance to the show-piece final on May 30th, which will now be the focus of theirs and Borussia Dortmund's seasons - even though Jürgen Klopp's men will still want to finish in the Europa League places.
Bielefeld, despite the result, can hold their heads high for knocking out three Bundeslida sides in previous rounds. They will be keen to get back to winning form in a crucial clash against Holstein Kiel this weekend, which could almost guarantee them promotion to the 2. Bundesliga.