Bayern Munich held off a late charge from defending DFB Pokal champions Borussia Dortmund to win 2-1 and advance to the quarterfinals of the competition.

Bayern had three golden opportunities before the 10-minute mark go begging as Arturo Vidal rattled the crossbar with a header, James Rodriguez fired over goal from close range and Robert Lewandowski somehow missed from point-blank range after being played in behind the Dortmund defence.

And the deserved opener came for the hosts in the 12th minute when Jerome Boateng headed past Roman Burki in the Dortmund goal after Niklas Sule had smashed another header off the crossbar.

Andriy Yarmolenko should have had Dortmund on level terms before the break when a Christian Pulisic cross found him wide open on the right side of the area, but David Alaba was on the line to deny his curled shot from close range.

A neat one-two between Lewandowski and Thomas Muller sprang the German international in the Dortmund area and he chipped Burki from a tight angle to send Bayern into the dressing room leading 2-0.

Muller should have had Bayern 3-0 up in the 65th minute after Kingsley Coman played him into the area, but Burki got a fingertip on his shot and diverted it wide of the post.

With Bayern clinging to a two-goal lead, Yarmolenko made amends for his earlier miss, heading a Shinji Kagawa cross past Sven Ulreich at the near post to set up a tense final 15 minutes.

Peter Stoger's side threw numbers forward looking for the equaliser, but it never came and Bayern Munich will now be Pokal favourites among the remaining eight teams.

Source:
courtesy of ESPNFC

by ESPN Staff

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