Last season's Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich managed a late-game victory against Werder Bremen on Tuesday, advancing them to the third round of the German Cup.

Bremen took an early lead with a goal from Claudio Pizarro, but Bastian Schweinsteiger equalized on 28 minutes. The midfielder proved to be the star of the game, also scoring the spectacular winning shot from 30 meters in the 74th minute.

"I had to score that (second) goal, it's as simple as that," said Schweinsteiger.

Bayern's win is sure to uplift coach Louis van Gaal, who had to play the game without seven first-choice players. He is due to get French star Franck Ribery back soon, and last year's top performer Arjen Robben is set to return in January.

"I think this is a fantastic result. We've a lot of injured players," said van Gaal.

Meanwhile Schalke 04 struggled against second-division FSV Frankfurt, but managed a 1-0 win thanks to Jose Manuel Jurado's long-range effort.

"I'm satisfied that we have made the next round and also with the performance of the team. We controlled the game and defended our lead well," said Schalke coach Felix Magath.

Cologne's birthday present

As birthday presents for German soccer coaches go, a debut at the helm of a Bundesliga side is about as good as it gets - which is why FC Cologne's new interim coach Frank Schaefer is unlikely to forget his 47th birthday.

In his first match as coach following the team's release of former coach Zvonimir Soldo, Schaefer coached Cologne to a 3-0 victory over second division side TSV 1860 Munich.

The two sides went into half time tied at 0-0, but Cologne came out for the second half hungry for goals. The first came in the 58th minute, when Martin Lanig deflected a corner kick from Lukas Podolski into the net. Podolski set up Milivoje Novakovic 20 minutes later for the second goal, and took Cologne's third goal himself in the 83rd minute.

VfL Wolfsburg ended fifth-league hopeful SC Victoria Hamburg's chance of coming any further in the German Cup with a convincing 3-1 victory. Wolfsburg went out in front early on thanks to a goal headed in by Peter Pekarik in the 17th minute.

There was still a chance for Victoria Hamburg until early in the second half, when two quick goals in the 52nd and 55th minutes from Wolfsburg's Josue and Marcel Schaefer slammed the door shut. Hamburg did manage to get one goal back in the 71st minute from Stephan Rahn.

Berlin knocked out

After last year's last place finish in the Bundesliga dropped them down to the second division, Hertha Berlin has been cruising at the top of the second league. But that wasn't enough to save them from early elimination from the German Cup, as Berlin lost to Koblenz 2-1 on the road.

Koblenz, currently in tenth place in the third division, struck first in the 59th minute on a goal from Michael Stahl. Berlin was still in contention until a foul in the penalty area by Valeri Domovchiyski gave Koblenz's Marcus Steegmann the chance for a penalty kick. Steegmann converted, clanging a blistering shot off the cross bar which bounced in for a goal.

After losing Raffael in the 80th minute to a straight red card, Berlin pulled back a late consolation goal in the 88th minute from Adrian Ramos.

One of the most exciting match-ups of the evening was between two second division clubs, SpVgg Greuther Fuerth and FC Augsburg. At the end of 90 minutes, the two teams were tied at 1-1. In extra time, Augsburg went ahead 2-1 in the first half, only to have Greuther Fuerth equalize three minutes after halftime.

But the final break went to Augsburg, who scored twice in the last ten minute of extra time to take the match 4-2 and advance in the German Cup.

The eight winners from Tuesday's matches will join the Wednesday's winners in the German Cup Round of 16.

Authors: Matt Zuvela, Andrew Bowen (Reuters, AFP, dpa)
Editor: Andy Valvur