Bochum were six minutes away from pulling off the mother of all upsets, but Bayern Munich had other ideas. Serge Gnabry and Thomas Müller struck late as Niko Kovac's side stayed in the cup by the skin of their teeth.
They came so close, but Bochum couldn't quite get it over the line. What would have been an upset of historic proportions slipped from their grasp in the final six minutes, during which a 1-0 lead was flipped into a 2-1 defeat, not helped by a late red card to defender Armel Bella-Kotchap .
The 2. Bundesliga side, whose Ruhrstadion is sandwiched between the more familiar football locations of Dortmund and Gelsenkirchen, will draw huge confidence from an accomplished defensive display, the kind of which have been a short supply during a domestic campaign that has already seen them ship 24 goals in 11 league games, a joint-high total in Germany's second tier.
For Bayern, it was ultimately a win. But not one that will curry favor for Niko Kovac, who despite guiding Bayern to a domestic double in his first season in charge, is not inspiring Bayern to runaway victories in these kinds of fixtures. The elation that followed their 7-2 victory over Tottenham in the Champions League has already faded quickly into the rearview mirror among those who might be engineering his unseating as coach, and an unconvincing win at a struggling 2. Bundesliga team will not help his cause.
Serge Gnabry, right, levelled the scores in the 84th minute.Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/L. Baron
Ultimately, Kovac had to send on his big guns to bail Bayern out. With a potential banana skin coming up in Frankfurt at the weekend and a Klassiker on the horizon, Kovac would have wanted to keep Robert Lewandowski's powder dry, but the Pole was thrown on at half-time, with Philippe Coutinho and Thomas Müller not far behind. Leon Goretzka, making a return to the club where it all began for him, was anonymous and jeered off the field when his number was raised in the second half.
Seemingly liberated from their league woes, Bochum were brilliant after an Alphonso Davies own goal had given them the advantage a few minutes before the break. They were organized, resolute and showed sheer grit to push Bayern as hard as they did. Uli Hoeness was in attendance alongside sidekick Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and the pair were shuffling uncomfortably in their seats as the clock ticked down, but they and Bayern were spared.
Serge Gnabry kept his head at the far post to level the scores, notching up his ninth goal of the season in all competitions. Bella-Kotchap was then dismissed after stumbling and using his hand to prevent Müller from a clear run at goal, and the former Germany forward arrived in the six yard box at the right time a minute later to deftly tuck the ball past Bochum keeper Manuel Riemann at the near post.
German Cup second round in pictures
RB Leipzig turned on the style in Wolfsburg with a huge win, while Dortmund and Bayern squeaked through. Hertha Berlin beat Dynamo Dresden on penalties after they brought around 35,000 fans to the Olympic Stadium.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Steffen
Wolfsburg 1-6 Leipzig
RB Leipzig turned on the style in Wolfsburg, ending the Wolves' cup campaign in emphatic style. The visitors took an early lead through a calamitous Jeffrey Bruma own goal. Wolfsburg went in only one goal down at the break but collapsed in the second half. Timo Werner scored twice with Marcel Sabitzer, Emil Forsberg and Konrad Laimer each grabbed a goal before a late Wout Weghorst consolation.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Steffen
Borussia Dortmund 2 - 1 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Two goals in three second half minutes from Julian Brandt turned this one on its head and handed Dortmund a second win over Gladbach in two weeks. Marcus Thuram gave the visitors a 71st minute lead before Brandt's speculative shot deflected in six minutes later. The summer signing proved decisive three minutes later as he rose to head home Thorgan Hazard's cross and seal the win.
Image: Reuters/L. Kuegler
Hertha Berlin 3 - 3 Dynamo Dresden (Hertha Berlin win 6-5 on penalties)
More than 30,000 Dresden fans traveled to Germany's capital only to see their side cruelly denied an upset. Moussa Kone gave the visitors a first half lead before Dodi Lukebakio and Ondrej Duda put Hertha up shortly after the break. Patrick Ebert earned the visitors extra time from the spot before Luka Stor's 107th minute strike gave them a lead snatched away by Jordan Torunarigha in injury time.
Image: Reuters/A. Hilse
SC Verl 1-1 Holstein Kiel (Verl won 8-7 on pens)
Fourth-tier SC Verl triumphed over 2. Bundesliga side Holstein Kiel on a dramatic night. The visitors took a 13th minute lead through Janni Serra, but that was canceled out by Niko Hecker's well placed header. There were no more goals after extra time, and Verl came through an epic shootout, winning 8-7 to cue wild celebrations.
Image: Imago Images/N. Wedel
St. Pauli 1 - 2 Eintracht Frankfurt
Two early strikes from Bas Dost were enough to see 2018 winners Eintracht Frankfurt safely through. The powerful Dutchman rose to nod home Martin Hinteregger's cross in the fourth minute before finishing with his right foot shortly after. Waldemar Sobota's penalty early in the second half turned up the pressure but wasn't enough.
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/C. Mueller
Werder Bremen 4-1 Heidelheim
All the goals came before the break as Weserstadion was treated to a feast of attacking football by Werder Bremen. Milot Rashica continued his fine run of form with the opener early on, and Leonardo Bittencourt and Davy Klaasen put the game beyond Heidelheim inside 18 minutes. Marco Freidl made it four shortly before the break, with a Marc Schnatterer penalty resoring some pride for the visitors.
Image: imago images/foto2press
Fortuna Düsseldorf 2 - 1 Erzgebirge Aue
Class eventually told in this one as top flight Düsseldorf came back from an early blow to reach the next round. Florian Krüger stoked hopes of an upset, firing home on 12 minutes after the hosts failed to clear. But Aue couldn't hold on until the break and Rouwen Hennings equalized from the spot. Defender Kasim Adams proved the hero, sweeping home a loose ball for the winner 15 minutes from time.
Image: Getty Images/Bongatrs/C. Koepsel
Kaiserslautern 2-2 Nuremberg (Kaiserslautern 6-5 on pens)
Kaiserslautern knocked out 2. Bundesliga side Nuremberg on penalties after the visitors forced extra time with a late equalizer. The hosts twice led, both times courtesy of Timmy Thiele, but were pegged back in the 89th minute when Michael Frey's strike forced an extra 30 minutes. But Kaiserslautern kept their heads, winning the shootout to seal their progress.
Image: Imago images/Sportfoto/W. Zink
Saarbrücken 3-2 Cologne
The shock of Tuesday night belonged to fourth-tier Saarbrücken, who scored a 90th minute winner to knock Bundesliga outfit Cologne out. After a goalless first half, the hosts raced into a 2-0 lead through Christopher Schorch and Gillian Jurcher. Cologne steadied the ship through Jonas Hector and Simon Terrode and looked to have forced extra time, but Tobias Jänicke struck the late winner.
Image: Getty Images/A. Grimm
VfL Bochum 1-2 Bayern Munich
Late goals from Serge Gnabry and substitute Thomas Müller rescued Bayern Munich from an embarrassing exit to second tier strugglers Bochum. Alphonso Davies turned a cross in to his own net to give the home side a first half lead but they couldn't quite hang on, Gnabry firing home at the back post on 83 minutes before Müller bundled home with just a minute remaining.
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/L. Baron
Arminia Bielefeld 2-3 Schalke
Schalke survived a late rally from their hosts to book their place in the next round. The Royal Blues got off to a flyer with an Alessandro Schöpf strike and a double from Benito Raman putting them three up with only 31 minutes gone. Just when it was looking comfortable, two goals in five minutes from Arminia's Fabian Klos and Cebio Soukou made for a nervy last 13 minutes for David Wagner's men.
Image: Imago Images/Nordphoto
Freiburg 1-3 Union Berlin
Union Berlin booked their place in the next round with an impressive win at Frieburg, who were unable to take their Bundesliga form into the cup. Joshua Mees' thumping header put the visitors one up, but Robin Koch nodded Freiburg level in the final minute of the first half. Union turned it on in the second half though, with Robert Andrich and Christian Gentner keeping their cup dream alive.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Seeger
Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 Paderborn
A first half strike from Lucas Alario was enough to see Bayer Leverkusen past Paderborn for the second time this season in a game that will live long in few memories. The Argentina striker, who scored against Germany earlier this month, powered home a loose ball in the 25th minute to settle the tie.
Image: Imago Images/U. Kraft
Duisburg 0-2 Hoffenheim
Hoffenheim eased past Duisburg with something to spare as the in-form Bundesliga outfit scored two goals in six minutes early in the second half. The first came courtesy of Florian Grillitsch with Sargis Adamyan adding a second just short of the hour mark. This victory is Hoffenheim's fourth on the bounce in all competitions.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Weihrauch
Hamburg 1-2 Stuttgart (aet)
Hamadi Al Ghaddioui's 113th minute winner settled a tight contest between the two Bundesliga 2 sides. Stuttgart got off to the perfect start when Nicolas Gonzalez gave them a 2nd minute lead. This was canceled out by Aaron Hunt and, with the game in extra time and heading towards penalties, Al Ghaddioui's pivot and strike gave Stuttgart the win.
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/B. Streubel
Darmstadt 0 - 1 Karlsruher
A close range Philipp Hofmann effort five minutes from time settled a scrappy affair between two midtable 2. Bundesliga teams. The hosts managed just two shots on target in a game where chances were scarce and were eventually punished when Hofman latched on to Anton Fink's header to punch his side's ticket to the next round.
