Klose hits the 20 mark as Bayern reach final


Written by: AFP Bookmark and Share
2008-03-19 22:51:56

Bayern Munich´s striker Miroslav Klose (R) vies for the ball against VfL Wolfsburg´s defender Marcel Schaefer during their German Cup semi-final football match at the Allianz Arena stadium in Munich, southern Germany. Bayern won 2-0.
  Bayern Munich´s striker Miroslav Klose (R) vies for the ball against VfL Wolfsburg´s defender Marcel Schaefer during their German Cup semi-final football match at the Allianz Arena stadium in Munich, southern Germany. Bayern won 2-0.
BERLIN (AFP) - Germany striker Miroslav Klose scored his 20th goal for Bayern Munich to book his side's place in next month's German Cup final after Wednesday night's 2-0 semi-final win over VfL Wolfsburg.

Since his switch to Munich from Werder Bremen last summer, Klose now has ten Bundesliga goals to his name, plus five in both the UEFA Cup and German Cup - but still lags behind top-scorer Luca Toni who has 24 goals for Bayern this season.

Klose, 29, added Bayern's second from close-range in the 66th minute after French midfielder Franck Ribery had broken the dead-lock on the hour mark to put Bayern just one win away from lifting the cup for the 14th time.

The top scorer at the 2006 World Cup, Klose is set to shine in June's Euro 2008 tournament as his side booked their final spot against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday April 19 in Berlin with a solid team performance.

"The team played very well from the first to last minute," said Bayern manager Uli Hoeness after the final whistle.

"It will be a great experience to face our old cup rivals in the final again."

The semi-final win was good news for Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld as his side bounced back after their UEFA Cup defeat by Anderlecht the week before and the humiliation of the 2-0 league defeat at strugglers Energie Cottbus last weekend.

There were changes after the Cottbus debacle with Italian World Cup winner Toni rested and Germany striker Lukas Podolski given his chance up front alongside Klose up front.

Bayern got off to a bright start as early as the second minute when Ribery found himself behind the Wolfsburg defence, but his header trickled wide.

Both Klose and Podolski squandered chances early on, but Ribery got the all important break-through just before the hour mark.

With the Wolfsburg defence closing in, Klose slid a pass to Ribery who unleashed his shot and ricocheted off the legs off goalkeeper Diego Benaglio into the back of the net.

And Klose added the second on 66 minutes when he followed up Marcell Jansen's shot and stabbed the ball home for his 20th goal for Bayern in all competitions.

On Tuesday night, Brazilian midfielder Tinga helped put Borussia Dortmund in next month's cup final as both goal-scorer and provider in the 3-0 semi-final win over ten-man Carl Zeiss Jena.

The 30-year-old grabbed the first goal on 13 minutes before Dortmund striker Diego Klimowicz followed up to make it 2-0 on 71 minutes. And Mladen Petric made it 3-0 just three minutes from time with a well-taken strike.




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