FFA Cup: German Alexander Baumjohann stars for Wanderers

Western Sydney Wanderers were made to do it tough but class prevailed as they moved into the quarter-finals of the FFA Cup with a 2-1 win over Bonnyrigg White Eagles.

Alexander Baumjohann, centre, celebrates with his Wanderers teammates after scoring against Bonnyrigg last night.

Western Sydney Wanderers were made to do it tough but class prevailed as they moved into the quarter-finals of the FFA Cup with a 2-1 win over Bonnyrigg White Eagles at Marconi Stadium last night.

The A-League club was travelling comfortably after German ­import Alexander Baumjohann’s first goal for the club after 12 ­minutes.

But NPL outfit Bonnyrigg ­refused to lie down and equalised against the run of play through Tynan Diaz’s superbly taken free-kick midway through the second half.

But the Wanderers’ Brendan Hamill dashed any hopes of a Cup upset by bobbing up to head home what turned out to be the matchwinner on 73 minutes.

Western Sydney now join fellow A-League clubs Sydney FC, Adelaide United and Melbourne City, and NPL sides Apia Leichhardt (NSW), Heidelberg United, Avondale and Bentleigh Greens (Victoria) in the quarter-finals.

The Wanderers have won both Cup games under new coach Markus Babbel and showed vast ­improvement on their 4-3 win over Hellenic FC in a round-of-16 game a couple of weeks ago.

The highlight for the Wanderers was the performance of Baumjohann, who was a class-above last night.

The former Bundesliga attacking midfielder dictated the game with his passing and vision. He was a constant threat going forward and set up several chances.

Teammate Patrick Ziegler, another German import, was also very solid in the centre of defence. The Wanderers appear to have picked up two quality players.

Western Sydney led 1-0 at halftime but probably should have had a more comfortable margin as they were in control for much of the first 45 minutes.