Mario Gomez fires home as Bayern Munich continued their march towards the German Cup title
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Bayern Munich thrash Wolfsburg 6-1 in the German Cup semifinal
- Jupp Heynckes impressive side have already won the Bundesliga title
- Arsenal and Everton draw 0-0 at the Emirates in the English Premier League
- Gunners gain point in chase for Champions League football next season
Having wrapped up the
Bundesliga title with six games left to play, the Bavarians have now
booked their place in the German Cup final, thrashing Wolfsburg 6-1.
The club's first ever treble is still within their grasp.
Bayern are also sitting
pretty in Europe having dismissed Juventus to take their place in the
Champions League semifinals where they will face Barcelona.
In fact, things are going
so well under manager Jupp Heynckes, some have questioned what incoming
coach Pep Guardiola, who is set to take over in June, can do to improve
them.
Guardiola famously steered Barcelona to 14 titles in his four years at the club, including two triumphs in the Champions League.
After a season's
sabbatical Bayern won the race for his signature, but the 42-year-old
might have a tough task on his hands if Bayern go on to pin down another
two trophies between now and the season's end.
They rarely looked in any
trouble against Wolfsburg and went into a two-goal lead before
halftime. Croatia striker Mario Mandzukic grabbed the opener, turning
home Dutch international Arjen Robben's cross.
Robben then found the net after a mistake in Wolfsburg's defense was pounced upon by Xherdan Shaqiri, who teed up his teammate.
Diego pulled a goal back for the visitors but Shaqiri soon restored Bayern's two-goal cushion with a low drive.
Mandzukic departed for
Mario Gomez and the Germany striker netted a hat-trick inside six
minutes to put an emphatic gloss on the result.
Bayern will now face either Stuttgart or Freiburg in the final. They play on Wednesday night.
In the English Premier League Arsenal's
hopes of strengthening their grip on third place ahead of London rivals
Chelsea and Tottenham in the race for Champions League football were
dented by a 0-0 draw with Everton.
The Merseyside club have
an outside chance of making the top four themselves but will be equally
disappointed with the stalemate.
Arsenal's French striker
Olivier Giroud missed the best chance of the game, firing wide from
eight yards out when stretching to meet a Aaron Ramsey cross, while Ross
Barkley went close for the visitors.
The result means Arsenal
remain third in the table, two points clear of both their London rivals
but they have played a game more than Chelsea and two more than
Tottenham.
Everton are sixth, two points behind Chelsea in fourth.
Despite the draw Arsenal
manager Arsene Wenger was confident they are on course to make the
Champions League for the 16th successive season under his stewardship.
He told Sky Sports:
"We're in a strong position but let's win the next game. As you can see
we are ready for a fight and if we keep this fighting spirit I'm sure we
will get there."
His opposite number David Moyes added: "The games are running out now so it's harder and harder for us to get into the top four.
"Probably we will get
talked about at the end of conversations about the Champions League as
we are rank outsiders. But there's no shame in getting a draw here."




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