News (engl.)

Bundesliga sides Bayer Leverkusen and FC Augsburg both lived up to their billing as favourites in Saturday’s 13:00 CEST kick-offs on day two of the first round of the DFB-Pokal. Leverkusen beat Wehen Wiesbaden 4-0, while Augsburg won 2-0 at Energie Cottbus to book their places in the next round.

FCA see off newly-promoted Cottbus

Cottbus, who have already begun their league campaign following promotion to Bundesliga 2, put Augsburg under heavy pressure from the outset in the visitors’ first competitive game of the season, pressing high up the pitch. The hosts also had the first chance, but Julian Guttau fired narrowly wide from a tight angle (5’). King Manu then passed up another opportunity to give Cottbus the lead when he headed wide from a corner. Keven Schlotterbeck was repeatedly called into action at the other end and made several important blocks as the match remained goalless at half time.

Augsburg took the lead after the break, however, when Anton Kade was picked out by Michael Gregoritsch. He cut inside cleverly before calmly finding the bottom-left corner (50’). Cottbus continued to battle and search for a way back into the game, as head coach Claus-Dieter Wollitz introduced three substitutes to add fresh legs in attack. Kristijan Jakić eventually put the result beyond doubt for Augsburg, giving Marius Lotka no chance with a shot into the top-right corner late on (90’+6).

Schick strikes before the break

Leverkusen underlined their superiority over hosts Wiesbaden from the opening stages. The Werkself opened the scoring in the 14th minute, but Patrik Schick had been offside when the cross came in. Moritz Flotho then registered the first effort for the hosts, which Janis Blaswich gathered comfortably (19’). Leverkusen kept pushing for the opener. Noah Brdar saved Afonso Moreira’s effort (31’), but was unable to keep out Schick’s powerful strike shortly before the break (43’), putting the visitors 1-0 ahead.

B04 doubled their advantage almost immediately after the restart. Lucas Vázquez pounced following a save from Brdar to make it 2-0 (47’). The visitors remained firmly in control from then on. Aleix García saw a volley blocked (63’), before a well-worked passing move ended with substitute Nathan Tella finishing from inside the box for 3-0 (69’). Christian Kofane then rounded off the scoring ten minutes later to complete the 4-0 win (79’).