Borussia Dortmund need penalties to overcome 2. Bundesliga side Union Berlin
Goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller was Borussia Dortmund’s hero once again, with the Bundesliga side needing penalties to overcome Union Berlin at Signal Iduna Park. The start of the match was delayed by fifteen minutes after some crowd trouble involving some Union Berlin ultras.
The hosts took the lead a minute before half time through a Michael Parensen own goal, with Dortmund youngster Jacob Bruun Larsen heavily involved. However, the hosts would be left to rue their inability to kill the game off, with Steven Skrzybski levelling nine minutes before the end of the ninety minutes.
Extra time failed to find a winner, but the result from the penalty shootout could not have been more emphatic for the Bundesliga side. Ousmane Dembélé, Matthias Ginter and Mario Götze all converted their efforts, whilst 36-year-old Weidenfeller saved two of the three Union Berlin spot kicks, namely from Felix Kroos and Stephan Fürstner, before Philipp Hosiner saw his effort hit the post to confirm Dortmund’s progression.
Holders Bayern Munich advance in all-Bundesliga clash
Bayern Munich booked their place in the last 16 of the DFB Pokal after a 3-1 victory over Augsburg at the Allianz Arena.
Captain Philipp Lahm gave the hosts the lead inside two minutes after firing the ball into Marwin Hitz’s bottom right-hand corner. Julian Green then scored his first professional goal for the club to double the holders’ lead after he headed in Thomas Müller’s cross.
Both sides missed penalties in the second half, with Koo Ja-cheol seeing his penalty saved by Manuel Neuer after Mats Hummels was adjudged to have fouled Gojko Kačar, before Müller blazed his over after an Augsburg handball.
Ji Dong-won did reduce the deficit with just over twenty minutes to go following a fierce left-footed effort, but Bayern made it three with virtually the last kick of the game through substitute David Alaba.
The game also saw a first appearance since February for Holger Badstuber, who made his comeback from injury 259 days since he last featured for Bayern.
Schalke survive second-half Nürnberg comeback
Schalke survived a second-half comeback from hosts Nürnberg to join Bayern Munich in the next round. Yevhen Konoplyanka’s deft finish from Max Meyer’s corner gave the visitors the lead, before Klaas-Jan Huntelaar made it two after good work from Junior Caiçara. Konoplyanka then seemed to have put the game to bed by adding a third just before the break.
However, a clumsy own goal from Chelsea loanee Baba Rahman 15 minutes into the second half gave Nürnberg a glimmer of hope, a glimmer which then became very real hope after Kempe converted a penalty to set up an interesting last twenty minutes, but the visitors held out.
Anthony Modeste’s extra-time winner sees Köln progress against Hoffenheim
High-flying Köln needed extra time to beat Hoffenheim 2-1 (aet) at the RheinEnergieStadion.
Benjamin Hübner headed the visitors in front eight minutes in, before a rasping long-range effort from Marcel Risse restored parity.
Risse, Anthony Modeste Pawel Olkowski had chances to give the hosts the lead in the second half, but Oliver Baumann stood firm in the Hoffenheim goal as the game went into extra time.
However, one minute into the added half an hour and Baumann was beaten by Köln’s main man Modeste, who finished off a great run by Olkowski. The visitors peppered the Köln goal in the second half of extra time, but the hosts managed to book their spot successfully in the next round of the competition.
