BERLIN: Hanover knocked Borussia Moenchengladbach out of the German Cup with a 3-0 victory on Wednesday to become the fourth second-tier side to reach the quarter-finals this week. Teenage forward Maximilian Beier scored twice as Hanover joined Karlsruhe, Hamburg and St Pauli, who stunned Borussia Dortmund 2-1 on Tuesday, in the last eight. Sebastian Kerk also netted a penalty as Hanover made the quarters for the first time since 2007. It was a second successive defeat in all competitions for Gladbach since beating Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich in their first match after the winter break. “It’s difficult to put that into words,” Gladbach captain Lars Stindl told Sky. “We had such a good opportunity to do something special. I just don’t understand it.”
RB Leipzig had little trouble in progressing, though, seeing off Hansa Rostock 2-0. Goals from Yussuf Poulsen and Dani Olmo saw Leipzig maintain their bid for a first-ever major trophy. The club have lost twice in the final before, to Bayern in 2019 and against Dortmund last season, and will now be the favourites this term. Later on Wednesday, Union Berlin claimed a 3-2 win at city rivals Hertha Berlin. Union, pressing for a Champions League place in the Bundesliga, extended their unbeaten run to five matches, with Andreas Voglsammer and Robin Knoche both getting on the scoresheet. Hoffenheim, who sit just above Union in fourth in the German top flight, suffered a surprising 4-1 home defeat by Freiburg. The visitors, whose own top-four push was dealt a blow with a 5-1 thumping by Dortmund last week, cruised to victory after a first-half double from Vincenzo Grifo.