Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho scores a goal against Blackburn Rovers during their FA Cup quarterfinal replay at Ewood Park Wednesday. — Reuters LONDON — Philippe Coutinho thumped home a second-half winner as Liverpool broke the resistance of Championship Blackburn Rovers to reach the FA Cup semifinals with a gritty 1-0 replay victory Wednesday.
Brendan Rodgers' side, which came into the game after back-to-back Premier League defeats that all but ended its hopes of a top-four finish, will face Aston Villa in the last four at Wembley.
It came out on top at Ewood Park having dominated possession but struggled to break down the host which got men behind the ball and restricted Liverpool to very few sights of goal.
The breakthrough came in the 70th minute when Coutinho exchanged passes with Jordan Henderson from a corner, drove into the box and drilled the ball low into the bottom corner.
Bayern edges Leverkusen on penalties
Holder Bayern Munich beat Bayer Leverkusen 5-3 on penalties after a 0-0 draw to move into the German Cup semifinal and stay on course for a treble of titles Wednesday.
Spaniard Thiago Alcantara scored the decisive spot-kick for the Bavarians, runaway leader in the Bundesliga and through to the Champions League last eight.
Without injured wingers Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben along with Bastian Schweinsteiger and David Alaba, Pep Guardiola's team was at times on the backfoot and an aggressive Leverkusen threatened it repeatedly.
Bayern was also lucky not to have Thiago sent off in second half stoppage-time after his flying studs-up challenge on Stefan Kiessling who had to be taken off.
Bayern stayed calm and converted every penalty with Josip Drmic having his spot-kick saved by Manuel Neuer before Thiago scored. Earlier, third division Arminia Bielefeld stunned in-form Borussia Moenchengladbach, also on penalties, after a 1-1 draw at the end of extra time.
Bielefeld, which claimed its third Bundesliga scalp, matched Gladbach, third in the Bundesliga, throughout and had a chance to snatch victory late in extra time as it showed no sign of fading against its more illustrious rival.
Gladbach's Ibrahima Traore missed the decisive penalty as Bielefeld beat another Bundesliga club after eliminating Hertha Berlin and Werder Bremen earlier in this competition.
Borussia Dortmund booked its spot with a 3-2 extra-time victory over Hoffenheim Tuesday and VfL Wolfsburg edged past Freiburg 1-0. — Agencies
