体坛英语新闻：Leipzig beat Augsburg 2-1 in the German Cup

BERLIN, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Leipzig progressed into the semi-finals for the first time in the club's history after beating Augsburg 2-1 in overtime on the late goal from Marcel Halstenberg at the German Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday.

Augsburg scored a very late equalizer through substitute Alfred Finnbogason but Leipzig had the last laugh as Marcel Halstenberg converted a handball penalty in the dying seconds of the overtime to book the semi finals.

Both sides staged an evenly balanced first half with slightly better chances for the hosts, who forced Leipzig's goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi into action twice as Marco Richter and Philipp Max came close.

Andre Hahn's sloppy back pass allowed Timo Werner to get in possession of the ball inside the box. However, the German international failed to break the deadlock from promising position with 30 minutes into the game.

Augsburg reaped another chance moments later but Michael Gregoritsch's shot on target from 25 meters was not a problem for Gualcsi.

Just before the break, Leipzig's Kevin Kampl tested Augsburg's defence after unleashing two efforts on target in the 43rd minute.

After the restart, both sides needed some time to gain a foothold into the match. Hence, neither Leipzig nor Augsburg were able to produce clear-cut opportunities.

Things changed out of the blue in the 74th minute when Amadou Haidara forced a turnover before setting up for Timo Werner, who made no mistake to beat Augsburg's onrushing custodian Gregor Kobel for the opener.

The hosts responded with frenetic attacks and got rewarded in the injury time when Alfred Finnbogason poked home the equalizer to flabbergast Leipzig.

In the overtime, both teams lacked in accuracy but a blatant handball by Michael Gregoritsch inside the box allowed Marcel Halstenberg to smooth the way for the victory after converting the penalty into the top right corner.

Elsewhere, Pierre Michel Lasogga's brace helped Hamburg to eliminate Paderborn 2-0 and to book a place in the semi-finals.

The following fixtures conclude the German Cup quarterfinals on Thursday: Bayern Munich host Heidenheim and Schalke encounter Werder Bremen.