Lewandowski brace helps Bayern reach quarters
TITLE-HOLDERS Bayern Munich conceded an early goal before reaching the quarterfinals of the German Cup with a Robert Lewandowski brace in a 4-3 victory over Hoffenheim yesterday.
Bayer
Leverkusen defeated seconddivision
VfB
Stuttgart
2-1 while
Union
Berlin edged fourth-tier Verl
1-0 to join seven
Bundesliga sides in the last eight.
Fourth-tier
Saarbruecken advanced in
LAZIO a penalty shoot-out (5-3) against second division Karlsruhe after a goalless 90 minutes and extra-time, and are the only side outside the top flight going into Sunday’s draw. Hoffenheim got in front after
Ihlas Bebou’s shot was deflected into his own net by Jerome Boateng in the eighth minute.
Benjamin Huebner then turned an Alphonso Davies cross into his own net under pressure from Thomas Muller in the 13th minute, and Muller put Bayern ahead seven minutes later from David Alaba’s pass.
Lewandowski headed a third in the 36th minute.
Lewandowski headed his second from a corner with 10 minutes remaining but Munas Dabbur’s double strike in the final minutes made it nervous for the home team.
“The way we played in the second half is something we’ll have to talk about,” Flick said.
“In the second half, we gave too much ball away and let them come back into the game,” admitted Bayern winger Serge Gnabry.
“We have to look at that, however we had a lot of fun going forward in attack.”
In Leverkusen, the home side had four goals disallowed for offside before Stuttgart keeper Fabian Bredlow punched the ball into his own net in the 71st minute while attempting to clear a corner.
“Even if it definitely wasn’t our best game, we’ve won and that’s all that counts in the end,” Leverkusen’s Kerem Demirbay said.
Union struggled to make much headway at Verl until Andrich Robert settled the tie with a 20-metre piledriver five minutes from time.
It is the first time that Union have reached the last eight since 2001 when they went on to lose the final against Schalke.
“It was exactly what we expected,” captain Christopher Trimmel said. “My wish now is for a home game. That’s something I have not experienced although I have been in Berlin a long time.” – dpa