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Bayern, Bremen and Leverkusen book German Cup quarterfinal berth

Xinhua, December 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

Bayern Munich edged Darmstadt thanks to Xabi Alonson's winner, Bremen ousted Monchengladbach following a thrilling seven-goal clash while Leverkusen moved 3-1 past lower league side Unterhaching to book the German Cup quarterfinal tickets on Tuesday.

Titleholders Bayern Munich progressed into the next round of the German Cup after carving out a 1-0 victory over Darmstadt.

The visitors from Darmstadt focused on their defense meanwhile Josep Guardiola's men took the reins from the kick-off. Although Bayern dominated the ball and the opponent they needed 40 minutes to break the deadlock. Alonso capitalized on a clearance by Darmstadt to unleash a hammer from 30 meters into the top left corner.

The hosts had the chance to double the lead two minutes later but the left post denied Robert Lewandoski's effort. After the restart, Bayern remained in control of the proceedings but Darmstadt's defensively minded strategy denied the hosts a higher victory.

Bremen follow the "Bavarians" into the next round as the Green-Whites overpowered resilient Monchengladbach 4-3 on the road. With the result, Monchengladbach crash out of the UEFA Champions League and German Cup within a short period of time.

The visitors almost opened the scoring with 10 minutes but Monchengladbach's goalkeeper Yann Sommer denied Claudio Pizzaro and Theodor Gebre Selassie with a double-parry.

However, it were the clinical hosts who scored the opener against the run of the game as Lars Stindl slotted home Thorgan Hazard's build up play with 32 minutes into the game.

Bremen responded after the break and restored parity in the 52nd minute through Janek Sternberg, whose low shot beat Yann Sommer, before Yannick Vestergaard tapped home a rebound following a free kick to turn the tides six minutes later.

Monchengladbach remained unfazed and fought back as substitute Branimir Hrgota utilized Raffael's through ball to make it two all draw in the 73rd minute. Bremen weren't done with the scoring as they grabbed the 3-2 lead two minutes later through veteran Claudio Piazzo before Anthony Ujah made the game safe with the 4-2 in the 78th minute.

Nevertheless, Monchengladbach kept it going and reduced the arrears to 3-4 owing to Branimir Hrgota's brace in the dying seconds of the game.

Elsewhere, Leverkusen eliminated fourth division side Unterhaching 3-1. The underdogs caught a fairy-tale start on home soil as Maximilian Bauer scored the first goal of the game with 27 minutes played.

The "Werkself" showed no mercy and turned up moments later as Javier Hernandez cancelled out the opener before Stefan Kiessling and Karim Bellarabi rounded off the 3-1 win over the lower league side.

Second division side Heidenheim wrapped up their first German Cup quarterfinal in the club's history after crushing third division team Erzgebirge Aue 2-0.

The following fixtures complete the round of the last sixteen: Nuremberg see Berlin, Stuttgart face Braunschweig, Augsburg clash with Dortmund and 1860 Munich host Bochum. Endi