Hannover, Berlin knocked out of German Cup

Lower league football clubs flabbergasted top-flight teams Hannover and Berlin but other heavyweights Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund cruised into the last 16 with expected victories at the German Cup.

Second division football side Aalen upset Hannover 2-0 at home while third division team Armenia Bielefeld eliminated Berlin on penalties Tuesday while Cologne needed a penalty shoot out to overpower Duisburg 4-1, reports Xinhua.

An own goal by Ceyhun Guelselam and an opportunistic Michael Klauss strike were enough for Aalen to eliminate Hannover in the second round. The hosts staged a focussed performance over 90 minutes whereas Hannover failed to pose any threat against the second division team.

Aalen went ahead when Hannover's Guelselam cleared a corner into his own goal in the 24th minute. Hannover were stunned and Aalen piled on the pressure to double their lead 14 minutes into the second half. The visitors lacked in ideas and failed to turn things around.

Berlin too crashed out as Armenia Bielefeld progressed with a 4-2 victory on penalties.

Berlin goalkeeper Thomas Kraft saved Stephan Salger's penalty before Bielefeld's goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow denied Julian Schieber and Sandro Wagner from the spot, securing his side's passage to the next round.

Borussia Dortmund staged a faultless 3-0 performance against second division club St. Pauli. Juergen Klopp's men needed 33 minutes to open the scoring through Ciro Immobile, who poked home from inside the box.

Dortmund doubled the lead one minute before the break to underline their dominance as Marco Reus' 14-metre effort beat Philipp Tschauner into the bottom left corner of the goal. Kagawa tripled the lead to seal the victory.

Elsewhere, struggling Werder Bremen recovered from a nine-game winless streak against Chemnitzer FC as Fin Bartels and Franco di Santo helped Bremen to a 2-0 win over the third division team.

Cologne advanced into the last 16 thanks to goalkeeper Timo Horn, who saved two penalties to wrap up a 4-1 win against Duisburg.

Kickers Offenbach beat Karlsruher SC 1-0, Kaiserslautern downed Greuther Fuerth 2-0 and Dynamo Dresden edged Bochum 2-1.