By Ben McFadyean.
Among the surprise packages in this weekend’s DFB Pokal first round, which extends into Tuesday, were third-tier Arminia Bielefeld who have now won three games in a row under new coach former Uerdingen defender Michael Kniat.
A sold-out house of 32,000 saw Holstein Kiel pushed to the limit by newly-promoted Alemannia Aachen at the Neue Tivoli, in an Aachen display worth every minute of the side’s eleven-year wait for professional football. Dynamo Dresden were worthy winners against second-tier opposition. But it was Jahn Regensburg who really pulled off the shock result of the weekend.
With Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen still to come, here is a round-up of this weekend’s first-round action:
FSV Mainz – SV Wehen Wiesbaden 3-1 (HT: 1-1 ) in front of 12,500 spectators. Despite Mainz’s chances in the early stages, Wiesbaden were initially ahead after a goal by Tarik Gözüsirin (14th). In stoppage time before the break, Robin Zentner parried a header from Wiesbaden’s striker Moritz Flotho, preventing Wiesbaden from gaining a larger lead. It was not until the 59th minute that Dominik Kohr scored the 1:1 for Mainz. Jonathan Burkardt (113th) and Nadiem Amiri (120th+1) then secured Mainz’s victory with their late goals in extra time.
Hallescher FC – FC St. Pauli 2:3 (1:0)Bundesliga newcomers FC St. Pauli won against Hallescher FC in front of 14,000 spectators. At first, it looked like a defeat for the Hamburg team – former BVB II striker Cyrill Akono had put Halle in the lead in the eleventh minute. However, the hosts missed a chance to make it 2:0 in the 38th minute through St. Pauli keeper Nikola Vasilj. After Johannes Eggestein’s equaliser (48th), Marius Hauptmann (63rd) put the fourth-division team back in the lead in the second half. But with goals from Adam Dźwigała (90th+4) and Lars Ritzka (110th), the St. Pauli team was able to turn the game but far from convincingly.
TSG Hoffenheim Würzburger Kickers 5:3 (2:2) in front of 9,511 spectators. Würzburg took the lead after a goal by Enes Küc in the eleventh minute. Würzburg’s Ebrahim Farahnak equalized with an own goal in the 18th minute. No further goals were scored in regular time and the match went into extra time. In the 100th minute, Moritz Hannemann scored another goal for Würzburg, which was also equalized shortly afterwards by Marius Bülter from Hoffenheim (107th minute). Hoffenheim were only able to defeat the team from Würzburg in the penalty shootout. There, Hoffenheim goalkeeper Luca Philipp showed his ability, saving the decisive penalty.
SSV Ulm 1846 – FC Bayern Munich 0:4 (0:2) FC Bayern Munich beat SSV Ulm clearly and without conceding a goal in front of 17,400 spectators in Ulm. Thomas Müller scored twice right at the start – three minutes apart (12th, 15th minute). Ulm fought but missed the chance to make it 1:2 and failed to catch up with Bayern’s lead. Kingsley Coman (79th) increased the lead in the second half. Substitute Harry Kane (90th+3) made it the final score in a result which could have been expected.
1 FC Phönix Lübeck – Borussia Dortmund 1:4 (0:3)Borussia Dortmund won 4:1 (3:0) against Regionalliga Nord side 1. FC Phönix Lübeck under new coach Nuri Sahin. The previous season’s Champions League finalists were challenged in Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion, but ultimately had no problems. Waldemar Anton (3rd), who moved to Dortmund from VfB Stuttgart, Emre Can (31st/penalty), Julian Brandt (45th+1) and Julien Duranville (62nd) scored for the Bundesliga team. Obina Iloka (55th) scored the consolation goal for the fourth-division team. In the 81st minute, Iloka also hit the post. BVB got the job done.
Alemannia Aachen – Holstein Kiel 2:3 (1:1) Newly promoted Holstein Kiel avoided an embarrassment at Alemannia Aachen in the dying minutes, only one week before their Bundesliga premiere. Coach Marcel Rapp’s team beat the third-division newcomers 3:2 (1:1) thanks to a goal by Lasse Rosenboom in injury time. Shuto Machino headed in an assist from Finn Porath to give Kiel an early lead. After that, however, the North Germans let up. Mika Hanraths (28′) scored for Alemannia from a corner to equalize at 1:1. A deflected shot from former Düsseldorf player Charlison Benschop landed just wide of the Kiel goal (39′). However, Benschop (60′) was then able to put Aachen in the lead after a nice combination with Nils Winter. Former Aachen player Lewis Holtby missed the quick equalizer a short time later (62’). Kiel tried by all means to equalize. Aachen’s Felix Meyer was able to save a lob from former Hamburg and Munich player Fiete Arp just before the line (77th minute). However, when Rosenboom (82nd minute) made it 2-2 after a corner, the Alemannia defence was far too passive. In injury time, it was Rosenboom again (90th+1) who fired Kiel into the next round.
FC 08 Villingen – 1. FC Heidenheim 0:4 (0:1)Heidenheim has also reached the second round of the DFB Cup ahead of its European Cup premiere next Thursday. After some problems in the first half, the Bundesliga club ultimately prevailed comfortably 4:0 (1:0) against South Baden cup winners FC 08 Villingen. This meant that the regional league newcomers missed out on advancing in the first round for the twelfth time. Maximilian Breunig scored three times for Heidenheim (43’/48’/55′), as did Paul Wanner (53′).
Greifswalder FC – 1. FC Union Berlin 0:1 (0:0) Substitute Yorbe Vertessen gave the Bundesliga club and its new coach Bo Svensson a successful debut. Vertessen scored the winning goal in Union’s 1:0 (0:0) win at regional league club Greifswalder FC. In the Greifswalder Volksstadion, the Belgian, who had been substituted earlier, scored for the favourites in the 67th minute. There were hardly any clear opportunities. All the more surprising was the lead by Vertessen, who had overcome the Greifswald defence thanks to a simple one-two with Benedict Hollerbach.
VfL Osnabrück – SC Freiburg 0:4 (0:2)The era post Christian Streich era began for SC Freiburg with a clear cup victory. New coach Julian Schuster’s team won 4:0 (2:0) against second-division relegated team VfL Osnabrück. Freiburg had a tough time for a while. By the time Lucas Höler (30th) and Vincenzo Grifo (34th) scored two goals within just four minutes, the favourites could have been 3:0 down. Osnabrück wasted their chances, and Freiburg took advantage of them. Junior Adamu scored two more goals for the SC (73rd/90th+4). The long-time SC professional Schuster can look forward to a second-round draw.
Erzgebirge Aue – Borussia Mönchengladbach 1:3 ( 1:1) survived the first round of the DFB Cup with a 3:1 win against Erzgebirge Aue. However, ‘Gladbach struggled at first. The third division team was leading after eight minutes thanks to a goal from new signing Mika Clausen. Even after the goal, Aue continued to look for a straightforward way forward and created good chances. Franck Honorat was able to equalize for Borussia with a spectacular overhead kick before half-time (35th minute), although Aue had been playing better up until then. It was only in the second half that Gladbach finally took control of the game. The team from the Lower Rhine now applied more pressure offensively and forced Aue to make mistakes. Luca Netz (52nd) and Alassane Pléa (70th) shot the Bundesliga team to a deserved victory.
Viktoria Berlin – FC Augsburg 1:4 (1:1) FC Augsburg qualified for the second round of the DFB Cup match against regional league team Viktoria Berlin after falling behind early on. Coach Jess Thorup’s team won at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-
The second Bundesliga sides:
Hansa Rostock – Hertha BSC 1:5 (0:1) Hertha won against Hansa Rostock by a clear margin. Derry Scherhant gave the Berliners the lead in the 36th minute. Immediately after the break, Mërgim Berisha scored the equalizer for the team from Rostock (46th minute), before Ibrahim Maza restored Hertha’s lead in the 66th minute. Marten Winkler increased the lead in the 75th minute and Florian Niederlechner again in the 88th minute. Die Alte Dame deservedly progress in this East-East derby.
Arminia Bielefeld – Hannover 96 2:0 (2:0) Second-division soccer club Hannover 96 has been eliminated from the DFB Cup after a disappointing performance at Arminia Bielefeld. The third-division club deservedly won. The goals for Arminia were scored by André Becker (13th minute) and Louis Oppie (22nd).A defensive error by Hannover’s ex-national player Marcel Halstenberg led to the lead. After a bad pass in his own penalty area, Marius Wörl got the ball. He passed to Becker, who scored from a few meters to take the lead. While Hannover got off to a good start in the 2nd division with four points from two games, they were unable to convince in the cup.
VfR Aalen – FC Schalke 04 0:2 (0:1) With a lacklustre but safe victory, FC Schalke 04 has also made it into the second round of the DFB Cup. The second division team won 2:0 (1:0) against fifth division club VfR Aalen. Tobias Mohr provided the assist for Kenan Karaman’s goal (31′) and scored the goal himself (68’). However, Karaman’s header would probably not have counted in the event of video evidence due to an offside position. Video evidence is not used in the first rounds of the cup. Aalen also appealed for penalties in three scenes in the first half, to no avail.
FC Ingolstadt 04 – 1. FC Kaiserslautern 1:2 (0:2) 1. FC Kaiserslautern has also advanced to the next round after a win against FC Ingolstadt 04. Despite being outnumbered for more than 40 minutes, the second division team won comfortably 2:1 (2:0) against the club that plays in a lower league. The Ingolstadt team were far too reserved for a long time. Kaiserslautern, which was only narrowly defeated 0:1 by Bayer Leverkusen in the final in May, will receive a bonus of 418,906 euros for reaching the second round, like all successful teams.
1. FC Saarbrücken – 1. FC Nürnberg 3:5 on penalties (1:1) 1. FC Nürnberg beat 1. FC Saarbrücken 5:3 on penalties in the first round of the DFB Cup. After a 1:1 draw after extra time, Christian Mathenia saved the decisive penalty from Saarbrücken captain Manuel Zeitz. Michal Ševčík put Nürnberg in the lead in the 12th minute before Kai Brünker equalized in the 80th minute. Nürnberg dominated the first half, with Ševčík scoring with a long-range shot. Saarbrücken goalkeeper Phillip Menzel prevented Kanji Okunuki from making it 0:2 in the 37th minute. There will be no repeat of Rudiger Ziehl’s magic in the cup in 24/25.
Bremer SV – Paderborn 0-4 (0:1) Paderborn clearly beat the regional league team Bremer SV in Bremen by four goals and thus also moved into the second round of the DFB Cup. Adriano Grimaldi scored the first goal for coach Lukas Kwasniok’s team with a header (21st) and later scored again (58th). Santiago Castañeda made it 0:2 for Paderborn. Sven Michel scored the final goal in the 52nd minute.
SSV Jahn Regensburg – VfL Bochum 1:0 (0:0) Second division team SSV Jahn Regensburg won against the Bundesliga team from Bochum. Florian Ballas scored the decisive goal for Regensburg in the 70th minute. The hosts controlled the game for a long time, especially in midfield. Maximilian Wittek’s finish (34th) was the biggest chance of the first half, but Regensburg goalkeeper Felix Gebhardt parried the shot. The second tier side take the honours.
VfV 06 Hildesheim – SV Elversberg 0:7 (0:3) Hildesheim lost 0:7 against SV Elversberg. Luca Schnellbacher (17th) and Robin Fellhauer (33rd) scored the first two goals for Elversberg. Yannik Schulze helped the team to make it 3:0 with an own goal from a header in the 43rd minute. Paul Stock (51st), Frederik Schmahl (62nd), Carlo Sickinger (77th), Joseph Boyamba (78th) scored the other goals for SV Elversberg in the second half.
FC Teutonia Ottensen – SV Darmstadt 98 1:3 (0:2) Darmstadt 98 has achieved its first competitive win since being relegated from the Bundesliga. Kai Klefisch (19′) and Fabian Nürnberger (28’/penalty) gave Darmstadt the lead in the first half. Oscar Vilhelmsson (62′) increased the lead after the break. Christian Stark scored the first goal for Teutonia Ottensen, but it was not enough to equalise, Darmstadt progress.
SV Sandhausen – 1. FC Köln 2:3 aet (0:2) 1. FC Köln won against SV Sandhausen. Julian Pauli (19th) and Linton Maina (34th) initially gave Köln the lead. Besar Halimi scored the first goal for SV Sandhausen following a handball penalty. Richard Meier equalized in the 6th minute of injury time. Mathias Olesen decided the game in extra time with a 3:2 win for Köln.
Meppen – Hamburger SV 1-7 (0:2) Two chances, two goals; the 1983 European Cup winners proved just too effective in front of the goal for the third-tier side Meppen. The former BVB U23s striker Immanuel Pherai struck from 18 meters in the 17th. It took a counter-attack opportunity via Karabec who was fouled in front of the penalty area, to give HSV the next chance to finish – which the second division team also took advantage of ice-cold: Muheim put the free kick directly into the goal in the 31st. The score remained 2-0 at half-time, the Meppen team put in a determined fight overall in the first half but were unable to finish which was their undoing. Selke scores seconds after being substituted on with his first touch of the ball in the 56th. Pherai added the fourth goal shortly afterwards in the 59th. Debutant Baldé finished a counterattack to make it 5-0 (71st). After Möller’s bitter own goal, whose back pass slipped over goalkeeper Pünt’s shoe (80th), returnee Glatzel was also able to celebrate in the 89th, but the finishing touch of this one-sided game was reserved for Meppen’s joker Haritonov, who scored the consolation goal in the 90th minute.
Dynamo Dresden – Fortuna Duesseldorf 2-0 (1:0) the big surprise of the round was third-tier Dresden’s win against Fortuna. After a weak first half in which Fortuna Düsseldorf couldn’t get its foot on the ground, Dynamo Dresden took a well-deserved lead. After the break, Fortuna had several chances to equalize within a few minutes – but the decisive goal was scored by Dynamo, who could have won even higher. A full house celebrated another great night in arguably Germany’s most stunning city.
Sportfreunde Lotte – Karlsruher SC 0:5 (0:2) The second division team left no doubt about their place in the second round over 90 minutes. Karlsruher SC clearly showed Lotte their limits in the first round of the cup. The Oberliga champions from Lotte went into the first-round game in the DFB Cup with high hopes but Herold ensured Karlsruhe’s dream start, the latter needed exactly 81 seconds to justify his inclusion in the side. The left-back shot from 20 meters, catching Sportfreunde keeper Beckemeyer on the wrong foot and took the lead. Deniz Burnic would have doubled this just four minutes later but the flag went up. The Karlsruhe team pushed ahead and were rewarded when Zivzivadze intercepted a bad pass from Nyuydine and fed his captain Wanitzek, who fired in safely from 15 meters in the 21st. This was followed by a Sabah own goal in the 49th. It then took until the 69th for a Zivzivadze shot to parry in for the third. Karlsruhe then finished the game off with a headed goal in the 82nd to send KSC into the next round.
The remaining fixtures are:
Monday 19th:
Energie Cottbus – Werder Bremen 1800
TuS Koblenz – VfL Wolfsburg 1800
Kickers Offenbach – 1 FC Magdeburg 1800
Eintracht Braunschweig – Eintracht Frankfurt 2045
Tuesday 20th: Preußen Münster – VfB Stuttgart 2045
Wednesday 21st: Carl Zeiss Jena – Bayer Leverkusen 1800
The draw for the second round takes place on 1 September.
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