Borussia Dortmund’s Ciro Immobile struck twice in the second half to secure a 2-0 victory at third tier Dynamo Dresden and a place in the German Cup quarter-finals.

The Italian, criticised for a lack of Bundesliga goals this season, pounced on a cross-field pass from Dynamo’s Michael Hefele to snatch the lead five minutes after the break on a bumpy pitch that resembled a ploughed field in parts.

Dortmund struggled to play the flowing football that has seen them win their last four league matches and Mats Hummels almost gifted Dynamo an equaliser when his backpass bounced awkwardly and was intercepted before Mitch Langerak saved.

Dortmund’s substitute striker Adrian Ramos almost got a second but his shot squeezed past a defender and hit the near post before rolling along the line and being cleared.

However, Immobile scored again when he slotted in from a Jakub Blaszczykowski cutback in the box at the final whistle.

The only negative for Dortmund was the loss of Marco Reus, who missed much of 2014 with a string of ankle injuries, midway through the first half when he limped off.

Bayer Leverkusen’s Hakan Calhanoglu rescued his side with a sensational goal to steer them to a 2-0 extra-time win over Kaiserslautern.

German Cup QFs: Aalen vs Hoffenheim 0-2; B. Leverkusen vs Kaiserslautern 2-0 (aet); D. Dresden vs B. Dortmund 0-2; Freiburg vs Cologne 2-1.

Today: 19.00 A. Bielefeld vs W. Bremen; Leipzig vs Wolfsburg. 20.30 B. Munich vs E. Braunschweig; K. Offenbach vs B. M’gladbach.