Martin Terrier, Patrik Schick and Jonas Hofmann scored as Bayer Leverkusen moved past St Pauli 3-0 at home on Tuesday to make the German Cup semifinals.
Leverkusen lacked fluidity but were too good for struggling St Pauli, who have now won just one of their past nine games and sit second-last in the Bundesliga.
The victory sends the two-time German Cup winners through to the final four of the competition for the third straight season.
Tasked this campaign with bringing through a cohort of talented youngsters after a summer of upheaval, coach Kasper Hjulmand altered direction this time out as he sensed the chance of silverware.
His starting XI had an average age of 28 years seven months – Leverkusen's oldest in any competition since 1998.
Just before the quarter-hour mark, Schick had a golden chance to open the scoring with the goalkeeper beaten but blasted his effort directly at defender Karol Mets.
Terrier put his side in front on the half-hour mark, latching onto a rebounded Schick attempt before curling a shot into the top-left corner.
With 63 minutes gone, Schick made up for his early misses by being in the right place to turn an Aleix Garcia cross across the face of goal and into the bottom corner.
With St Pauli pushing to cut the deficit in stoppage time, Leverkusen hit the visitors on the break and Alejandro Grimaldo guided a lovely pass for Hofmann to score.
On Wednesday, Holstein Kiel host cup holders Stuttgart. Next week, Hertha Berlin host 2022 finalists Freiburg and 20-time winners Bayern Munich take on RB Leipzig at home.
The final will be held at Berlin's Olympic Stadium on May 23.