Immobile sends Dortmund through, Leverkusen need extra time

Borussia Dortmund extended their impressive 2015 league form to the German Cup as they won 2-0 at third division Dynamo Dresden on Tuesday, thanks to a second half double from Ciro Immobile.

The opening half-hour was short on chances as Dortmund - playing for the first time in their all-white away kit - dominated possession but could not find a way through. Marco Reus had to be taken off injured after coming off worse following a strong challenge but the attacker appeared to 'only' suffer a dead leg.

Italian striker Ciro Immobile then took an elbow to the face but Dresden captain Michael Hefele escaped even a booking.

After a fairly unremarkable first half, Dresden were the side who had the first chance in the second period. A deep cross nearly let Justin Eilers in before Mitch Langerak stayed big and saved well. The game then changed completely when Hefele, under no pressure, badly under hit his pass and Immobile took advantage to give Dortmund the lead.

Langerak was then on hand to save from Eilers as the game opened up to to delight over 30,000 fans packed inside a sold-out Stadion Dresden.

Immobile broke through but passed when he should have shot and then substitute Adrian Ramos missed an excellent chance to end the contest; his shot hit the inside of the post after the striker struggled to control the ball.

It mattered little though as Immobile scored his and Dortmund's second in the 90th minute, slamming home after a low cross from Jakub Blaszczykowski to send the Bundesliga side through to their fourth consecutive German Cup quarterfinal.

First-half fires Freiburg through

With no-one wanting to take on the favorites' tag in the only all-Bundesliga tie in the Round of 16, the hosts took the lead with a quick-fire double on the 20-minute mark. First, Anthony Ujah - who has been in good form in front of goal recently - headed in at the wrong end from a corner and then Vladimir Darida rounded Timo Horn to double the score after a fantastic first-time pass from Maximilian Philipp.

With a two-goal lead, Freiburg sat back and waited for a mistake from the visitors. It didn't come before the break, leaving Christian Streich's side primed to progress after a strong pressing performance in the first 45 minutes. Kevin Vogt fired over for Cologne before the hosts were denied what looked a clear penalty after a foul on Dani Schahin. Freiburg remained the better side and Cologne were starting to run out of time. Horn handed his side a lifeline when he saved Darida's penalty, but Vogt then fired over from inside the six-yard box. Peter Stöger's men threw everything at Freiburg late on, but despite a late goal from substitute Deyverson, it just wasn't to be their night.

Leverkusen and Hoffenheim labor to win

Having lost to the same opposition in the same stadium in last year's cup competition, Leverkusen were out for revenge. Omar Toprak picked up an early yellow as the game took on a start-stop nature. Simon Rolfes headed wide and then Karim Bellarabi had the ball in the net - only to be wrongly ruled out for offside. Alexander Ring's header nearly put the visitors ahead against the run of play, but Bernd Leno made a great reflex save to keep the scores level.

The visitors grew braver in the second half, but it was still goalless at the hour mark as chances grew few and far between. Extra time rolled around again (as it did last year) and it took a superb, curling free kick from Hakan Calhanoglu one minute before the interval to break the deadlock. A mix-up in the Kaiserslautern defense allowed Stefan Kiessling to make it 2-0, take his tally to six in this year's competition and end the contest.

Despite being the second best team in the opening quarter of an hour, Hoffenheim were leading at the end of it. Kevin Volland's low cross was deflected into the path of an on-rushing Eugen Polanski and the Pole lashed home. Aalen were far from out of the game though - Andreas Hofmann curled onto the bar for the hosts as the second-division side dared to draw level. That intent continued in the second half as Markus Gisdol's side failed to impress. The hosts couldn't convert their chances and Hoffenheim did what the hosts couldn't and scored. Sven Schipplock passed off to Kevin Volland who curled home a shot at the near post. Undeterred, the hosts continued to push forward but couldn't find a way through. Modeste nearly made it three off the bench, but Hoffenheim progressed despite playing well short of their best.