DFB-Pokal Review: Alonso Volley-ed Bayern to the quarter-finals, Bremen edge out Gladbach in seven-goal thriller

Werder Bremen came out on top in a seven-goal thriller with Borussia Monchengladbach, booking their place in the DFB-Pokal quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Viktor Skripnik’s side went into the interval behind with Lars Stindl scoring the first-half’s only goal, but they were ahead inside 13 minutes of the restart when Jannik Vestergaard added to Janek Sternberg’s equaliser.

Branimir Hrgota restored parity with a neat finish for Monchengladbach, but Claudio Pizarro put Bremen back in front in the 75th minute and Anthony Ujah increased their advantage three minutes later.

Hrgota pulled one back for Gladbach in second-half stoppage time, but Gladbach were unable to force extra time and exited the tournament as a result.

Bayer Leverkusen returned to the venue where they failed to secure the point needed to claim their first Bundesliga title in the 1999-2000 season to face Unterhaching, now a fourth-tier side, and there would have been concerns of another frustrating defeat when they fell behind to Maximilian Bauer’s opener.

However, Javier Hernandez scored his 16th goal in his last 13 appearances in all competitions to restore parity, with Stefan Kiessling and Karim Bellarabi making sure of progression with second-half strikes securing a 3-1 victory.

Xabi Alonso’s sensational volley fired Bayern Munich past Darmstadt in their third-round meeting, though Dirk Schuster’s side produced a commendable defensive display to limit Pep Guardiola’s team to a 1-0 home win.

And after a goalless first half, Arne Feick and Marc Schnatterer sent Heidenheim into the quarter-finals with a 2-0 win over Erzgebirge Aue.