KIEL, Germany — Defending champion Stuttgart defeated second-division club Holstein Kiel 3-0 Wednesday to reach the German Cup semifinals.
Deniz Undav broke the deadlock for the visitors in the 56th minute, then Chris Fuhrich added to the lead in the 89th and Atakan Karazor closed the scoring three minutes into stoppage time.
Stuttgart won its fourth German Cup title last season, beating third-division team Arminia Bielefeld in the final.
Holstein Kiel was playing in the quarterfinals for the first time since reaching the last four in 2020-21.
On Tuesday, Bayer Leverkusen advanced to the last four for the third straight season by beating St. Pauli 3-0.
The other two quarterfinals will be played next week — second-tier Hertha Berlin faces Freiburg and Bayern Munich takes on Leipzig.
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