News (engl.)

Energie Cottbus provided a cupset on Saturday evening, winning 1-0 against second-division side Hannover 96 to reach the second round for the first time since 2013. SC Freiburg recorded a 2-0 victory at Sportfreunde Lotte and SV Darmstadt 98 won 2-1 in Lübeck.

Hannover come unstuck in Cottbus

Hannover 96, who have a 100% record in the 2. Bundesliga this season, were beaten 1-0 away at third-tier club Energie Cottbus. The hosts were able to take the lead in the 12th minute via Tolcay Ciğerci’s strike from a tight angle. Hannover won a penalty just before the break (41’), however Boris Tomiak’s shot was saved by Alexander Sebald, who was a late call-up to the team after Elias Bethke got injured in the warm-up.

Energie’s back-up keeper continued to frustrate Hannover’s attackers in the second half with a few more solid saves. 96 did find the back of the net in injury time, however substitute Benjamin Källman was in an offside position when he received the ball. That meant that Claus-Dieter Wollitz’s team were able to progress to the second round.

Comfortable win for Freiburg in Lotte

SC Freiburg, runners-up in the DFB-Pokal in 2022, showed why they went to fourth-division side Sportfreunde Lotte as favourites. Julian Schuster’s side had plenty of the ball and controlled the game, eventually going 1-0 up courtesy of Eren Dinkçi’s volley just before the break (43’).

The second half was a similar story, with Freiburg controlling the play and Lotte only defending. From a Christian Günter free-kick, Lucas Höler was in the right place to double their advantage (69’), allowing them to take their foot off the gas in the final 20 minutes with their place in round two confirmed.

Darmstadt progress in Lübeck despite late goal

SV Darmstadt, who, like Hannover, also have six points from six in the 2. Bundesliga so far this season, had plenty of possession in Lübeck and controlled proceedings, though they struggled to break down VfB’s compact defence. Matej Maglica was able to put the Lilies ahead in the 34th minute from a corner.

After Marco Richter came close to scoring, Fraser Hornby made it 2-0 for Florian Kohfeldt’s team (73’). Pierre Becken’s strike for the Regionalliga side in the first minute of injury time came too late to salvage anything and it ended 2-1 to SVD.