News (engl.)

The first teams have booked their places in the round of 16 of the DFB-Pokal. VfL Bochum pulled off a surprise 2-0 victory over 1. FSV Mainz 05 in Tuesday evening’s second-round action, making Mainz the first Bundesliga side to be knocked out of this season’s competition. FC Augsburg secured a 4-2 win away to Großaspach, while Eintracht Frankfurt beat Hamburger SV 3-1 in an all-Bundesliga encounter. RB Leipzig came from behind to claim a 2-1 victory over Rot-Weiss Essen.

The opening stages were cagey in Bochum, with the confident hosts repeatedly disrupting Mainz as they tried to play out from the back. Taz created the first opening for VfL, sending Holtmann down the left, but his dangerous cross went straight into Schwolow’s hands (14’). At the other end, Becker tested Horn with an effort from distance (24’). Neither side created another clear chance before half time, with the Bundesliga 2 outfit more than holding their own against their top-flight opponents.

Bochum came flying out of the blocks after the restart. Holtmann and Taz combined to get past the Mainz defence down the left before Holtmann picked out Rasmussen. His shot took a decisive deflection off Sano and looped over Schwolow to give the hosts the lead (46’). VfL kept up the pressure, with Holtmann firing narrowly wide from the left (60’). They doubled their advantage on the counter-attack, Hofmann finishing off an excellent passing move with an unchallenged shot inside the box (75’). Mainz were running out of time and struggled to create chances against an impressive Bochum side. Horn denied the visitors one final opportunity in stoppage time, clawing Posch’s header off the line (90’+3) to seal a memorable cup upset.

Frankfurt impress after the break

In the all-Bundesliga encounter at the Volksparkstadion, HSV had the first opportunity when Nandja met a cross with a header from close range but failed to generate enough power to trouble the goalkeeper (6’). Neither side managed to establish themselves in the opposition half for any sustained period. Lokonga then played Grønbæk through the Frankfurt defence, leaving him one-on-one with Atubolu, but his shot rolled narrowly wide of the right-hand post (29’). Bornauw headed just over the Frankfurt crossbar towards the end of the first half, but the teams went into the break with the score still goalless.

Despite having enjoyed slightly more of the play, HSV fell behind midway through the second half. Burkardt did well to nod a high cross from the right into Koch’s path, leaving him with a simple finish from close range (65’). Moffi missed a golden opportunity to equalise soon afterwards, heading a corner wide from a promising position. Frankfurt, meanwhile, made their chances count. Burkardt brought another lofted cross under control with an excellent touch inside the box before finishing clinically to make it 2-0 (71’). Just four minutes later, Ebnoutalib weaved his way through the HSV defence and calmly added a third (75’). Atubolu could only parry a powerful effort from Daka, allowing Moffi to tuck away the rebound and pull a goal back for the hosts (79’). However, HSV were unable to put Frankfurt under any further pressure and bowed out against a clinical Eintracht side.

Ten-man Leipzig fight back against Essen

Third-tier Rot-Weiss Essen made a flying start against RB Leipzig. After a misplaced back-pass from Castello Lukeba, Lucas Brumme rounded goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland and slotted home to give the hosts an early lead (9’). The underdogs continued to look the more dangerous side, with Brumme going close to doubling his tally from a free-kick (25’). Leipzig dominated possession but created little in front of goal before the break. Their task became even harder when Nicolas Seiwald received a second yellow card for a foul on Reisig (44’), having already been booked just ten minutes earlier.

Leipzig stepped up the tempo in the second half. Jakob Golz denied Gomis with a save from a low shot (59’), before Germany international David Raum went close with a header (63’). Essen were having to work increasingly hard to protect their lead, but a cup upset looked on the cards as the game entered its closing stages. Leipzig then showed their quality in the final 15 minutes. Antonio Nusa broke down the left and squared for Christoph Baumgartner to turn in the equaliser (78’). Four minutes later, Baumgartner struck again, poking home a free-kick from the right at close range to put Leipzig 2-1 ahead (82’). Essen battled on bravely, but were unable to find an equaliser.

Augsburg made to work hard in Großaspach

Bundesliga side FC Augsburg started brightly in Großaspach. Robin Fellhauer headed a long ball into the box towards Rodrigo Ribeiro, who turned and fired home to give the visitors the lead (13’). The 3. Liga club were desperately unlucky not to equalise shortly afterwards, with Marius Kunde coming agonisingly close to a spectacular goal as his long-range effort struck the inside of the post. Augsburg immediately went up the other end and doubled their lead from another long ball, with Ribeiro once again applying the finish (21’). The underdogs were undeterred, however, and Luca Molinari pulled a goal back just two minutes later (23’). Großaspach continued to cause problems for their Bundesliga opponents, with Finn Dahmen denying them an equaliser shortly before half time when he saved Loris Maier’s deflected effort (45’).

The hosts got their deserved equaliser shortly after the restart. Captain Volkan Celiktas rose highest to meet a corner and headed home to make it 2-2 (47’). There was little to separate the teams despite the two-division gap, but Augsburg eventually struck back. Substitute Arijon Ibrahimović curled a superb effort into the far corner after Großaspach had failed to clear their lines (70’). The goal swung the momentum firmly in Augsburg’s favour, and fellow substitute Anton Kade made it 4-2 less than five minutes later (74’). The quickfire double proved too much for the third-tier hosts, who were unable to find a way back into the game.