Philippe Coutinho (top) of Bayern Munich vies with Bastian Oczipka of Schalke 04 during a 2019-2020 season German Cup quarter-final match between FC Schalke 04 and FC Bayern Munich in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, March 3, 2020. (Photo by Joachim Bywaletz/Xinhua)
BERLIN, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Bayern Munich progressed for the 11th time in a row into the semifinals after Joshua Kimmich scored the only goal of the game to knock out Schalke from the German Cup on Tuesday.
The "Royal Blues" started highly motivated into the quarterfinal encounter on home soil and pinned the defending champions Bayern Munich into their territory.
Hence, the hosts created the first note worthy chances of the game as Alessandro Schopf pulled wide from tight angle in the 5th minutes before Guido Burgstaller rattled the crossbar following a pinpoint cross to the far post from Weston McKennie seven minutes later.
The "Bavarians" showed a vital sign at the 16th minute when Leon Goretzka missed the target just wide from the edge of the box.
However, the hosts thought they had opened the scoring at the other end of the pitch but Burgstaller's goal was ruled offside with 20 minutes played.
The disallowed goal was a wakening call for the visitors as Benjamin Pavard tested Schalke goalkeeper Markus Schubert with a long-range effort moments later.
Bayern grew into the game as the clock ticked and pressed the hosts into the defense. The pressure from Bayern eventually paid off with 40 minutes into the game as Kimmich took advantage on a clearance following a corner and hammered home with a low shot into the far post corner.
After the restart, Bayern started where they left off and let the ball do the work to keep the hosts on the back foot.
Hansi Flick's men should have doubled their advantage at the hour mark but Philippe Coutinho's well-placed curl got denied by the crossbar.
Schalke responded out of the blue and almost caught the visitors flat footed but substitute Benito Raman was unable to overcome Bayern custodian Manuel Neuer following a promising fast break.
The hosts threw everything up front but Bayern held firm and extended their unbeaten run against Schalke to 21 games in a row.
"My team played very well and I am satisfied with the performance but Bayern is the deserved winner of the game," Schalke coach David Wagner said.
"We are of course delighted with the outcome of the game. Schalke played defensively but we played it smart and booked our berth for the next round," Bayern coach Hansi Flick said.
Elsewhere, fourth division outfit Saarbrucken flabbergasted top flight team Fortuna Dusseldorf 7-6 (1-1) in the penalty shootout. With the result, Saarbrucken is the first-ever fourth division club that advance into the semifinals.
The following fixtures conclude the quarterfinals on Wednesday - Bayer Leverkusen host Union Berlin and Eintracht Frankfurt clash with Werder Bremen.
