Bayern Munich battled into the DFB Cup quarterfinals with a dramatic 3-2 win over Union Berlin in a match shaped by two Union own goals, two penalties and sustained late pressure.
Union, backed by a raucous home crowd, started aggressively but were punished from the first corner when Ilyas Ansah accidentally turned a Joshua Kimmich delivery into his own net. Another Kimmich set piece produced Bayern’s second, with Harry Kane stooping to head in from close range.
The hosts pulled one back before the interval after a VAR check penalised Jonathan Tah for handball, allowing Leopold Querfeld to send Manuel Neuer the wrong way from the spot, reports Xinhua.
Deep into first-half stoppage time, Union’s set-piece troubles continued. Under pressure at the far post, Diogo Leite inadvertently looped an attempted clearance over goalkeeper Frederik Ronnow and into the top corner, restoring Bayern’s two-goal cushion at the break.
The intensity hardly dropped after the restart. An early injury to Aleksandar Pavlovic forced Vincent Kompany into a reshuffle, and Union capitalised when Kane was whistled for a foul on Leite inside the box.
Querfeld converted again with confidence, sparking a frantic final half-hour in which Union pushed forward relentlessly while Bayern dropped deeper.
Neuer was called into action several times, and Querfeld almost completed an unlikely hat-trick with a late header that flashed just wide, but the record German champions held firm to secure their place in February’s last eight.
“It’s a tough and unlucky defeat. We earned real respect with our performance today, but that doesn’t help us now because we’re out of the competition,” said Union Berlin captain Rani Khedira.
“I was pleased with our first half; we did many things right. The second half wasn’t good from us, but in the end, I hope we come back to Berlin for the final,” Kompany said.
Elsewhere in the round of 16, VfB Stuttgart booked their quarterfinal spot with a 2-0 win in Bochum, as Philipp Strompf scored an own goal and was sent off before Deniz Undav sealed the result after the break.
SC Freiburg also advanced, defeating Darmstadt 2-0 with Vincenzo Grifo involved in both goals despite missing a clear late chance.
Hamburg exited the competition at the hands of Holstein Kiel, conceding a late equaliser in extra time before losing 4-2 in the penalty shootout.
–IANS
