Guido Burgstaller fired in his second goal in this season's DFB Cup - his first strike in 2018 - to win it for Schalke. - © © imago / Kraft
Guido Burgstaller fired in his second goal in this season's DFB Cup - his first strike in 2018 - to win it for Schalke. - © © imago / Kraft

Schalke edge past Wolfsburg to reach DFB Cup semi-finals

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Schalke made it to the last four of the DFB Cup after Guido Burgstaller’s ninth goal of the season gave them victory over Wolfsburg on Wednesday.

Schalke 1-0 Wolfsburg

Goals: 1-0 Burgstaller (10’)

Schalke were out to bounce back from last weekend’s home defeat against Werder Bremen, and recalled striker Burgstaller took his first big chance to impress. Only two passes were required to turn a Wolfsburg attack into a Schalke one that saw Burgstaller racing clear from halfway. The Austrian did well to get into the penalty area, and was then given an age to calmly pick his spot. Having made that goal, Marko Pjaca then dragged two efforts wide himself, but Wolfsburg were unlucky not to level midway through the half when Yunus Malli watched a beautifully cushioned half-volley from the edge of the box come back off the bar.

The second half was largely uneventful, with an early Malli shot on target proving something of a false dawn for the visitors. Schalke were content not to take too many risks, and they were never really threatened as they comfortably closed out the win.

Match stats

    The Royal Blues have lifted the DFB Cup on five occasions. Their last victory came in 2010/11, when they beat Duisburg 5-0.Schalke had not progressed beyond the last eight since they won the competition nearly seven years ago.Wolfsburg’s only triumph came in 2014/15, when a Wolves side featuring Kevin De Bruyne and Bas Dost beat Borussia Dortmund 3-1.Wolfsburg had been knocked out of the competition by Bayern in both the last two seasons.These two teams have faced each other three times in the cup. Schalke beat the Wolves on penalties in a 1970/71 first-round replay (following a 2-2 draw in the original tie), before losing to VfL on spot-kicks at the last-16 stage in 2007/08.A late Origi strike earned Wolfsburg a 1-1 draw at the Veltins-Arena on Matchday 10 of the 2017/18 season.

Line-ups

Schalke: Fährmann (c) – Kehrer, Naldo, Nastasic – Schöpf, Meyer, Goretzka, Oczipka – Pjaca (Teuchert 76'), Burgstaller, Harit (Caligiuri 90+2')
Unused subs: Nübel, Bentaleb, Konoplyanka, Stambouli, Embolo
Absentees: Baba (fitness), Insua (ribs), McKennie (knee)
Coach: Domenico Tedesco

Wolfsburg: Casteels - Jung, Bruma, Knoche, Tisserand (William 61') - Guiavogui (Osimhen 80'), Arnold (c) - Gerhardt (Didavi 72'), Malli, Mehmedi – Origi
Unused subs: Grün, Verhaegh, Dimata, Brekalo
Absentees: Brooks (knee), Uduokhai (knee), Blaszczykowski (back), Camacho (ankle)
Coach: Martin Schmidt

As it happened