Soccer Football - DFB Cup - Quarter-Finals - Hertha BSC v Kaiserslautern - Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany - January 31, 2024 Kaiserslautern's Jan Elvedi scores their first goal REUTERS/Annegret Hilse
BERLIN (Reuters) - Kaiserslautern eased past hosts and fellow second-tier club Hertha Berlin 3-1 on Wednesday to book a spot in the German Cup last four, a decade after their last semi-final appearance.
Kaiserslautern coach Dimitris Grammozis made no changes to his line-up that crushed Schalke 04 4-1 and the decision quickly paid off for the visitors.
They took a fifth-minute lead when Jan Elvedi rifled home after Hertha failed to clear a free kick floated into the box.
Richmond Tachie completed a quick move with a fine shot from the edge of the box to make it 2-0 and pile pressure on the hosts.
Hertha, who reached the last four in 2016, had a chance to cut the deficit three minutes after halftime but Haris Tabakovic could not beat keeper Julian Krahl from six metres.
Kaiserslautern scored again as Filip Kaloc pounced on a Hertha error in midfield, charging through and drilling in a low shot from outside the box to kill off the game.
Fabian Reese managed a stoppage-time consolation goal for Hertha.
Second division Fortuna Duesseldorf are through to the semi-finals. Bayer Leverkusen host VfB Stuttgart and Saarbruecken take on Borussia Moenchengladbach next week in the other quarter-finals.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Ed Osmond)
