Bayern cruise past Hamburg into German Cup third round

Holders Bayern Munich eased into the German Cup third round with a comfortable 3-1 win at Hamburg SV on Wednesday to continue their unbeaten domestic run as they prepare for Saturday's league clash against Borussia Dortmund.

>>Reuters
Published : 30 Oct 2014, 06:07 AM
Updated : 30 Oct 2014, 06:07 AM

The league leaders, who also take on Roma in the Champions League next week, got off to a dream start with forward Robert Lewandowski firing in on the rebound after a Heiko Westermann mistake had set up the hosts' lead in the seventh minute.

Bayern, undefeated in the league as well as the Champions League so far, then struck just before the break after an earlier effort had been ruled off side.

Austria international David Alaba found space outside the box and rifled in a long range effort that took keeper Jaroslav Drobny by surprise on the stroke of halftime.

Franck Ribery, back in the starting lineup after a lengthy injury break, killed off any lingering comeback hopes from Hamburg, seeing his deflected shot beat Drobny in the 55th.

Ribery also had a close encounter with a Hamburg fan who stormed the pitch in stoppage time, slapping the Frenchman with a Hamburg scarf and making an obscene gesture.

"I did not see him coming but it's ok," said a smiling Ribery. "It was important for me to play again after being injured. But it was more important for us to win and advance."

Hamburg managed a late consolation goal through Pierre-Michel Lasogga with a header at the far post after a deft chip from Raffael Van der Vaart.

Fellow Champions League club Bayer Leverkusen had a far more adventurous evening after needing penalties to edge past fourth division club Magdeburg 5-4.

What had looked like an easy task with in-form Hakan Calhanoglu putting Leverkusen ahead after only three minutes, turned out to be a thriller with the hosts levelling and taking the lead in extra time.

Leverkusen, who had South Korean Son Heung-min sent off with a striaght red card for a foul, needed a 116th minute equaliser through Kyriakos Papadopoulos to take the game to penalties where they kept their cool with keeper Bernd Leno saving three penalties.

In an all-Bundesliga clash, Borussia Moenchengladbach beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 while Hoffenheim crushed second tier FSV Frankfurt 5-1 with two goals from Brazilian Roberto Firmino.

Dortmund, last season's finalists, have already booked their spot in the next round after beating St Pauli 3-0 on Tuesday.