( dpa ) - Borussia Dortmund needed extra time to overcome Hertha Berlin in the German Cup Wednesday, while VfL Wolfsburg had no such problems with Edin Dzeko netting four as they put seven past third-division side Oberneuland.
Coming off the back of a 4-1 hammering by Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga and a UEFA Cup loss to Udinese in the past week, Dortmund were in desperate need of a win but needed an extra-time strike from Diego Klimowicz on 103 minutes to secure a 2-1 win.
Alexander Frei gave Dortmund the perfect start, scoring from the penalty spot on seven minutes, but Marko Pantelic equalized for the visitors 15 minutes later. The two sides remained locked at 1-1 until Klimowicz's winner.
"We played more compactly than we have recently and showed a great desire to win this important game," said Dortmund captain Sebastian Kehl.
Meanwhile, Wolfsburg's 7-0 demolition continued Felix Magath's side's unbeaten start to the season, which now runs to eight games.
"I'm happy that we didn't make it difficult for ourselves," said Magath. "It wasn't good fun but it was effective."
Hamburg, who lost 3-0 to Wolfsburg at the weekend, got back to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over VfL Bochum thanks to a brace from Mladen Petric.
Karlsruhe also enjoyed a 2-0 win against Kickers Offenbach, Alexander Iashvili and Massimilian Porcello scoring for the Bundesliga side.
In the day's other early game, Ronny Koenig netted the only goal of the game as SV Wehen Wiesbaden beat Alemannia Aachen 1-0.
Later Wednesday, holders Bayern Munich play Nuremberg in an all- Bavarian affair, Carl Zeiss Jena entertain FSV Frankfurt, Freiburg welcome Hoffenheim and VfB Stuttgart take on Arminia Bielefeld.