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FV Illertissen provided the biggest upset to date of this season’s DFB-Pokal, knocking out 2. Bundesliga club 1. FC Nürnberg on penalties after a 3-3 draw. FC St. Pauli were also taken to penalties by another fourth-tier side, Eintracht Norderstedt, but managed to win the shootout 3-2. 1. FC Heidenheim easily won 5-0 at Bahlinger SC, while TSG Hoffenheim were 4-0 victors away against Hansa Rostock. VfL Wolfsburg had some fun on Saturday afternoon, putting nine unanswered goals past SV Hemelingen, though fellow Bundesliga side RB Leipzig were given a scare by Regionalliga outfit SV Sandhausen, trailing twice in their 4-2 victory.

Incredible drama in Illertissen

Regionalliga club FV Illertissen got off to the perfect start against Nürnberg. Striker Denis Milic gave them the lead against the four-time DFB-Pokal winners after just two minutes. The visitors struggled in the opening 45 minutes and found themselves two goals behind at the break after Yannick Glessing’s strike in the 43rd minute.

The favourites managed to reduce the deficit in the 66th minute via a fantastic effort from Berkay Yilmaz. Following a 15-minute delay due to a storm, a header from Artem Stepanov drew FCN level (79’). Miroslav Klose’s side then looked to have booked their place in the second round with three minutes to go as Semir Telalovic converted from the spot. However, Tobias Rühle headed in an equaliser for Illertissen in the first minute of injury time to ensure the two teams played another 30 minutes, which ended goalless. With the two teams tied at 3-3, it went to penalties. Michel Witte saved Noah Maboulou’s spot-kick, allowing Clayton Irigoyen to step up and send Illertissen through.

Routine win for Heidenheim

Bundesliga side 1. FC Heidenheim had no problems away against Bahlinger SC. After Leo Scienza’s audacious effort from over 50 yards out hit the bar (4’), the Brazilian did open the scoring five minutes later (9’). Bahlingen coach Stefan Reisinger was sent off in the 21st minute for his protests regarding a decision and his team then trailed 2-0 at the break after Mathias Honsak doubled FCH’s lead (34’).

Heidenheim keeper Diant Ramaj quashed any hopes of the hosts getting back in the game when he saved Holger Bux’s penalty (58’). Scienza then made it 3-0 (62’), before late goals from Mikkel Kaufmann (77’) and Sirlord Conteh (84’) confirmed a 5-0 victory for Frank Schmidt’s men.

Hoffenheim overcome potential banana skin with ease

TSG Hoffenheim were handed a difficult draw away to third-division side Hansa Rostock, but they dealt with the challenge impressively on Saturday afternoon. After Tim Lemperle’s goal was ruled out for offside in the 18th minute, fellow summer signing Wouter Burger gave TSG the lead in the 37th minute.

Both teams had chances in the second half, however it was German youth international Max Moerstedt who got the second goal of the game for Christian Ilzer’s men (71’). Fisnik Asllani (83’) and Moerstedt (86’) added two more goals to take Hoffenheim to the second round.

Wolves rampant in Bremen

Fifth-division side SV Hemelingen hosted VfL Wolfsburg at Werder’s Weserstadion in Bremen. It proved to be a one-sided affair in favour of the Bundesliga side. Moritz Jenz, who had only come on as a substitute after 10 minutes, converted a Patrick Wimmer cross to break the deadlock (13’). Andreas Skov Olsen quickly added a second (14’) and that prompted the home team to make early tactical changes. A penalty from Lovro Majer after 39 minutes meant that VfL were 3-0 up at the interval.

New Wolfsburg boss Paul Simonis then witnessed an extremely dominant second half from his players. Dzenan Pejcinovic (53’, 76’, 81’), Mattias Svanberg (61’, 71’) and Vaclav Cerny (72’) all got their names on the scoresheet in a resounding victory.

Leipzig recover from early scare

Sandhausen, relegated from the 3. Liga last season, stunned RB Leipzig early on at the Stadion am Hardtwald. Leon Ampadu Wiafe put them 1-0 up after just three minutes, though the joy was short-lived. New Leipzig attacker Yan Diomande drew them level three minutes later. Jahn Herrmann then scored from a counter-attack to put Sandhausen ahead again. It didn’t take Leipzig long to equalise once more, this time defender Willi Orban headed in from Xavi’s free-kick (23’).

Ole Werner’s team finally went ahead with 11 minutes left to play: Ezechiel Banzuzi headed home on what was also his competitive debut for the club. Xavi sealed the victory in the sixth minute of injury time for the two-time Pokal winners.

Tough going for St. Pauli

St. Pauli faced local Regionalliga side Eintracht Norderstedt and were frustrated all afternoon by goalkeeper Lars Huxsohl. The Bundesliga club missed a total of 20 shots as the two teams played out 120 goalless minutes.

Three of the first four penalties in the shootout failed to hit the back of the net. In the end, St. Pauli keeper Nikola Vasilj was the hero, saving Jonas Behounek’s spot-kick to spare the Kiezkicker’s blushes.