Bayern survive Union 'fight' as Kimmich sets sights on DFB-Pokal final

Joshua Kimmich is making the DFB-Pokal a priority for Bayern Munich this season after they battled past Union Berlin 3-2 to make the quarter-finals.

Two own goals and a Harry Kane header had Bayern 3-1 up at half-time before Leopold Querfeld scored a second Union penalty early in the second half to put the tie in the balance.

That pair of spot-kicks, which saw Querfeld become the first player to score twice from 12 yards against Manuel Neuer in the same match, contributed to a lopsided expected goals tally.

Bayern created only 0.74 xG and allowed 2.69 xG but had just enough to scrape through.

Ultimately, only the result mattered to Kimmich, who has won the Pokal three times but not since 2020.

Since that last win as part of a stunning treble in the 2019-20 season, this is only the second time Bayern have advanced to the last eight.

"I'm not sure when was the last time we advanced to this stage," he said.

"It felt like we were always out by November or December in the past five or six years, so it was very important that we advanced today.

"The goal is to go to Berlin for the final, and we're working towards that.

"We played some good football in the first half today, but the second half was more of a fight and we didn't manage to play our game.

"It's difficult to string two or three passes together on this pitch. Union played a lot of long balls and there were a lot of duels. I think it was not an attractive half to watch for neutrals.

"I'm happy we defended well and scored from set-pieces this time.

"The Pokal final is one of the most emotional games I've experienced in my career, the atmosphere is outstanding. It's still a bit far away, but our goal is to be there."

Bayern are eight points clear in the Bundesliga, and face Stuttgart in their next top-flight outing on Saturday.