Bayer Leverkusen qualified to the quarter-finals of the German Cup after beating Stuttgart, in the BayArena, by 2-1. Fabian Brendlow, with an own goal, and Lucas Alario scored the two goals of the home side, while Sila Wamangituka discounted for the visitors. One of the highlights of the match was the debut of Ezequiel Palacios, who showed quality and can be of great help for Leverkusen.

During the beginning of the first half, the visitors had more the ball, however, they weren’t able to bring any trouble to goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky. On the other hand, the home side even not having the ball that much, created some good opportunities.

At the 20th minute, Kai Havertz almost made the fans celebrate with a shot from outside the box. And they even scored at the 44th, but the goal was disallowed due to an offside position.

Things were different during the second half, especially to Stuttgart’s goalkeeper. Probably a night to forget. At the 71st minute, he made his first mistake. After a corner by Demirbay, he couldn’t clear the ball properly and ended up sending it to his own goal, putting the home team ahead on the scoring.

At the 83rd, he defended Bellarabi’s shot but sent the ball straight to Alario’s feet. The number 13 sent the ball over the defense to score the 2-0.

2 minutes later, Stuttgart got their only goal, when Nicolas Gonzalez crossed the ball to Wamangituka, who didn’t miss the chance and sent the ball past goalkeeper Hradecky.

With the victory, Bayer Leverkusen qualified for the quarter-finals of the German Cup and will now wait for the draw to see who they will face on the next round. Before that, the Werkself will focus on the Bundesliga, where they will welcome Borussia Dortmund on Saturday. Stuttgart, who are playing the second division, will welcome Erzgebirge on the same day.