Leon Bailey's second-half strike sealed Bayer Leverkusen’s place in the DFB Cup quarter-finals at the expense of Borussia Mönchengladbach, who spurned numerous goalscoring chances in an entertaining clash at the BORUSSIA-PARK.

Both teams went close to breaking the deadlock in an exhilarating first half, Lars Stindl stinging the palms of Bernd Leno before Bailey was denied by Yann Sommer at the other end. The hosts continued to enjoy the better of the goalscoring opportunities as the half wore on but could not find a way past an inspired Leno, who pulled off superb saves to deny Thorgan Hazard and Patrick Herrmann.

Borussia continued to dominate proceedings after the restart and should have taken the lead when Hazard was played through on goal by Kevin Volland, but Leno was once again equal to the task, blocking the Belgian’s shot with his right arm. The Foals were made to rue those missed opportunities when Bailey burst clear of the Borussia defence before planting an unstoppable shot inside the near post in the 70th minute, securing Die Werkself’s place in the last eight.

Match stats

1994/95 winners Borussia recorded narrow victories over Rot-Weiss Essen and Bundesliga 2 high-flyers Fortuna Düsseldorf to reach this stage of the competition.The Foals lost on penalties to Eintracht Frankfurt in last season’s DFB Cup semi-finals.Gladbach were beaten 5-1 by Leverkusen in the teams’ last meeting on Matchday 9.Leverkusen reached the last 16 thanks to victories over third-tier Karlsruhe (3-0) and Bundesliga 2 side Union Berlin (4-1).Bayer were beaten by third-tier outfit Sportfreunde Lotte in the second round last season.Winners in 1992/93, Leverkusen have reached the final twice since the turn of the century but were beaten on both occasions (2-4 vs. Schalke in 2001/02 and 0-1 vs. Werder Bremen in 2008/09).

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Line-ups

Gladbach: Sommer - Elvedi (Drmic 87'), Ginter, Vestergaard, Wendt - Cuisance, Oxford (Grifo 76'), Zakaria - Herrmann (Bobadilla 80'), Stindl (c), Hazard
Unused subs: Sippel, Jantschke, Hoffmanns, Benger
Absentees: Doucoure (muscle tear), Benes (broken foot), Hofmann (knee), Strobl (knee), Traore (thigh)
Coach: Dieter Hecking

Leverkusen: Leno (c) - Retsos, Tah, S. Bender, Wendell - Baumgartlinger - Kohr, Havertz (Mehmedi 46') - Bailey (Henrichs 90+1'), Volland, Brandt (Bellarabi 67')
Unused subs: Özcan, Jedvaj, Pohjanpalo, Aranguiz,
Absentees: Yurchenko (foot)
Coach: Heiko Herrlich

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