Football
ESPN staff 8y

Xabi Alonso's screamer guides Bayern; Javier Hernandez lifts Leverkusen

Xabi Alonso's remarkable long-range strike was enough to carry Bayern Munich to a 1-0 win over Darmstadt and into the quarterfinals of the DFB Pokal on Tuesday.

The ball fell to Alonso about 40 yards from goal, and the Spaniard took one touch before looping the ball past goalkeeper Christian Mathenia.

Robert Lewandowski also hit the post but Bayern made little out of its near monopoly of possession. Late in the match, Darmstadt threatened a couple of times but never put Bayern in real danger.

While Pep Guardiola's men did not show the absolute dominance with which they have opened up a five-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga and set up a date with Juventus in the last 16 of the Champions League, they still managed to see off their league rivals at the Allianz Arena.

Bayern stayed in the hunt for a Treble and advanced to the cup quarterfinals, which will be contested Feb. 9-10.

Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez continued his fine scoring form as Bayer Leverkusen won 3-1 win at fourth-tier Unterhaching.

The Mexican striker followed up his weekend hat trick with an equaliser from close range, four minutes after the Bavarian hosts had taken the lead through Maximilian Bauer.

Stefan Kiessling, who added two goals of his own in Leverkusen's 5-0 win over Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday, put the top-flight side ahead 10 minutes after the break with a shot at the near post. 

After Ulrich Taffertshofer was sent off for a second yellow card, Karim Bellarabi took a pass from Hernandez and slotted home to provide the final margin.

Borussia Monchengladbach's dismal week continued with a 4-3 defeat at home against Werder Bremen.

Gladbach crashed out of Europe last Tuesday with a Champions League defeat at Manchester City, followed by the 5-0 Bundesliga rout by Leverkusen, and are now out of the cup as well.

Lars Stindl put Gladbach ahead on 32 minutes, only for Bremen to reverse the scoreline with goals from Janek Sternberg and Jannik Vestergaard early in the second half.

Branimir Hrgota brought Gladbach back level, but the joy lasted only a minute as Claudio Pizarro put the visitors back ahead, and Anthony Ujah soon added a fourth on the counter-attack.

Hrgota's second goal in stoppage time came too late and Bremen advanced to the quarterfinals.

In a game between lower-division sides, Heidenheim won 2-0 at Erzgebirge Aue thanks to goals soon after half-time from Arne Feick and Marc Schnatterer.

The final four games of the round and the quarterfinal draw are set for Wednesday.

^ Back to Top ^