Robert Lewandowski's winner helped 10-man Bayern Munich to see off resilient second-division side Heidenheim in a nine-goal thriller at the German Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Bayern survived an early red card for defender Niklas Sule and were able to bounce back from 1-2 to reach the German Cup semifinal for the 10th consecutive time after wrapping a late 5-4 victory on home soil.

The hosts grabbed a bright and were able to mark the opener with 12 minutes played as Leon Goretzka met Joshua Kimmich's corner kick inside the box to make it 1-0 on the scoreboards.

It was a short lived for the German record champions though, as Niklas Sule saw a straight red card for a professional foul play three minutes later.

The visitors increased the pressure and benefitted on their numerical advantage to restore parity in the 27th minute when Robert Glatzel headed home Marc Schnatterer's corner.

Things went from bad to worse for Bayern as Heidenheim turned the tides in the 39th minute after Marc Schnatterer unleashed a one-timer into the far post corner to make it 2-1.

Bayern responded with frenetic attacks and were able to level the scores eight minutes into the second half as Lewandowski set up for Thomas Muller, who scored with a turn shot into the top left corner.

Niko Kovac's men gained momentum and grabbed the lead once again as Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry were on target to establish a 4-2 lead on 65 minutes.

Lower league side Heidenheim remained unimpressed and rallied back out of the blue after Robert Glatzel provided two goals within three minutes to flabbergast dominant Bayern.

Heidenheim had even the chance to secure the win but Bayern back-up goalkeeper Sven Ulreich denied Denis Thomalla in a one-on-one with 82 minutes played.

Meanwhile, Bayern snatched the late win after Marnon Busch's handball inside the box allowed Lewandowski to seal the deal from 11 meters in the dying minutes of the game.

"It was a wild game, an open game but in the end we had a little bit more luck. What absolutely annoys me is that we weren't able to defend the 4-2 lead and that is where we got into trouble," Bayern head coach Niko Kovac said.

"I am sad that we got knocked out. I think it could have been the other way around as well in such a wild game," Heidenheim head coach Frank Schmidt said.

Elsewhere, Werder Bremen booked their berth for the semifinals as well after beating Schalke 2-0 on the goals from Milot Rashica and Davy Klaassen. 

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