Bayern, Bremen, Leverkusen enter German Cup quarters

Bayern Munich edged Darmstadt 98 thanks to Xabi Alonson's goal, Werder Bremen ousted Borussia Monchengladbach in a 4-3 thriller while Bayer Leverkusen edged Unterhaching Fc 3-1 to book German Cup quarter-final places.

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

The visitors from Darmstadt focused on their defense as Josep Guardiola's men took over the reins from the kick-off. Bayern dominated and needed 40 minutes to break the deadlock. Alonso capitalised on a clearance by Darmstadt to unleash a strong shot from 30 meters into the top left corner.

Werder Bremen also entered the next round overpowering resilient Monchengladbach 4-3. The visitors Bremen almost opened the scoring within 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 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 tide 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 a 3-2 lead two minutes later through veteran Claudio Piazzo before Anthony Ujah made the game safe with 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.