Eight games were played in the DFB Cup on Saturday afternoon. In the first round games, the favorites usually prevailed.
VfB Stuttgart had a successful start to the season and made it into the second round of the DFB Cup. The Bundesliga soccer club defeated fourth division club TSG Balingen 4-0 (3-0) away on Saturday. In the Swabian duel, Enzo Millot gave the three-time cup winner the lead in the 25th minute. In addition, Silas (34′), Serhou Guirassy (43′) and captain Wataru Endo (55′) scored in front of 13,400 spectators in the sold-out Reutlingen stadium. The game was moved to Reutlingen because the arena in Balingen is too small for the cup competition. After its DFB Cup premiere, regional league club TSG can console itself with an income in the lower six-digit euro range over the defeat.
Bundesliga relegated Hertha BSC survived the first round without any problems. After the false start in the 2nd Bundesliga, the Berliners prevailed 5-0 (1-0) at the regional league club FC Carl Zeiss Jena and celebrated their highest victory in the cup competition for 20 years. Palko Dardai (6th minute), Haris Tabakovic (47th), Marco Richter (49th/52nd) and Filip Uremovic (59th) scored in front of 11,800 spectators in the sold-out Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld. Last season, Hertha, as the Bundesliga club at the time, lost in the first round on penalties at second division side Eintracht Braunschweig. After being relegated to the Bundesliga, the Dardai team started the second division with 1-0 defeats against Fortuna Düsseldorf and Wehen Wiesbaden.
FC St. Pauli has reached the second round of the DFB Cup. The Hamburg second division soccer team won 5-0 (1-0) at fifth division team Atlas Delmenhorst on Saturday. However, the Kiez-Club missed many chances to score with the Lower Saxony club.
Eric Smith (24th minute) scored a free kick from almost 20 meters for the guests to take the lead. An unfortunate own goal by Atlas goalkeeper Damian Schobert (59th) stopped the upper division’s hesitant efforts. Elias Saad (68th) and Marcel Hartel (70th) increased the penalty for the Hanseatic League. Central defender Kerem Sari received yellow-red for the previous foul. Oladapo Afolayan (88th) made the final score.
St. Pauli dominated the game without much surprise, but Hamburg was careless with their chances. At the beginning of the second half, the hosts got better and achieved unchallenged success.
With the third competitive win in a row, Holstein Kiel has reached the next round in the DFB Cup. The second division runners-up won 2-0 (0-0) at FC Gütersloh, who have been promoted to the regional league on Saturday. In front of 5000 spectators in the Heidewald stadium, substitute Holmbert Aron Fridjonsson secured a brace (72./90.3) for the guests, who struggled against the twelfth-placed in the Regionalliga West for a long time.
The hosts came up with some good scenes through their dangerous striker Markus Esko, who later had to be replaced injured, and even missed a penalty kick by Nico Buckmaier in the 41st minute. Lewis Holtby fouled Esko in the penalty area. Kiel only got into the game well later and had good scoring chances through Holtby and Steven Skrzybski. But it was Iceland’s Fridjonsson, who came on as a substitute, who scored two goals in the final stages of the game for the 2021 cup semi-finalists.
The 17-year-old top talent Can Uzun shot 1. FC Nürnberg into the second round of the DFB Cup. The Turkish offensive player scored three goals in the sovereign 9: 1 (6: 0) of the second division soccer team on Saturday in the first round game at Bremen division club FC Oberneuland and prepared another goal for coach Christian Fiel’s team. Uzun was twice successful for the Franconians in the 2-2 win against Hannover 96 in the 2nd Bundesliga last weekend.
The four-time DFB Cup winner showed his superiority from the start against the overwhelmed fifth division team. Uzun provided the 2-0 lead with two early goals (10th minute/14th). Daichi Hayashi (15th), Ahmet Gürleyen (19th) and Taylan Duman (24th/29th, penalty kick) increased the lead to 6-0 before the break.
Nuremberg replaced substitute goalkeeper Carl Klaus in the second half. Keeper Christian Mathenia only had one ball contact in the first 45 minutes. The Fiel team took it much easier in the second half and was able to increase through Uzun with his third goal (67th) and former Werder professional Benjamin Goller (71st). Oberneuland now put up a little more resistance and was rewarded by Bakary Lambers’ 8-1 lead (89′). Christoph Daferner (90′) scored to make it 9-1.
Bayer Leverkusen easily made it into the second round of the DFB Cup. The Bundesliga soccer team beat Hamburg regional league team FC Teutonia 05 Ottensen 8-0 (3-0) on Saturday. The goals for coach Xabi Alonso’s team were scored by Edmond Tapsoba (16th minute), Victor Boniface (42nd), Florian Wirtz (45th, 1), Amine Adli (59th, penalty kick), Jeremie Frimpong (67th), Adam Hlozek (74′, 90′) and Jonas Hofmann (81′).
With a lackluster performance, Borussia Dortmund easily solved the first mandatory task of the new football season and reached the 2nd round of the DFB Cup. The German runners-up easily prevailed 6-1 (3-1) at the Southwest regional league team TSV Schott Mainz on Saturday, but could hardly inspire with the summer kick-off.
In front of 30,312 spectators, Sébastien Haller (22nd and 35th minute), Julian Brandt (24th), Marcel Sabitzer (57th), Donyell Malen (79th) and Youssoufa Moukoko (85th) scored the goals for the clearly superior team of Coach Edin Terzic. Nils Gans (34th) scored the acclaimed consolation goal for the blatant outsider.
After being outnumbered for 80 minutes and leading twice, Werder Bremen suffered a record defeat in the DFB Cup. In an ultimately turbulent game at third division team Viktoria Köln, the Hanseatic League, who were decimated early on by Amon Pieper after an emergency brake, lost 2:3 (1:0). Werder were eliminated in the first round for the sixth time in the past 13 years and are now the sole record holders with eleven first-round defeats as a top division club against a lower-class club.
Marvin Duksch (43′) and the top scorer Niclas Füllkrug (77′), who played as captain, gave Werder the lead twice. But Bremen’s home-grown player David Philipp, who trained with the Hanseatic League from 2014 to 2020, equalized twice (72nd/79th). Donny Bogicevic really made sure of the second second round entry of the Cologne team, who are leaders after the 1st matchday of the 3rd division. After his goal in the fourth minute of added time, the game did not start again.
After two defeats in the first round, SpVgg Greuther Fürth has again reached the second round of the DFB Cup. Alexander Zorniger’s team won 1-0 (1-0) at third division soccer team Hallescher FC on Saturday evening. Armindo Sieb (19th minute) gave the second division side from Franconia the lead. In injury time of the first half, Halle’s Erich Berko (45.3) saw the red card after hitting Luca Itter’s knee with a straight leg.
Before the kick-off, the HFC made a sign for the suddenly ill Niklas Kreuzer in front of 11,251 spectators. The players held up a placard that read: “We stand behind you, Kreuz”. The defender was diagnosed with testicular cancer on Friday.
Halle started confidently because Fürth initially let the hosts do it. Still, Spielvereinigung took the lead: Tim Lemperle passed Sieb from a half-left position and shot in superiorly from the edge of the penalty area. After that, Fürth only did what was absolutely necessary. In the second half, Fürth, who had superior personnel, had an easy game, but were too negligent with the chances in front of the goal. Robert Wagner hit the crossbar in stoppage time.
FSV Mainz 05 have reached the second round of the DFB Cup with a bang and without the suspended coach Bo Svensson on the flanks. The Rheinhessen won 1-0 (0-0) at second division promoted SV Elversberg on Saturday. Ludovic Ajorque (73rd minute) scored the goal of the day with a penalty kick. In 2021, Mainz could only win on penalties at the then fourth division team.
The new season started with a lot of frustration for VfL Bochum. After the 1:4 (2:2, 2:2, 1:2) penalty shootout against Arminia Bielefeld, coach Thomas Letsch’s team said goodbye as the second Bundesliga team in the first round of the DFB Cup. The bitter knockout against the third division gives little courage for the league opener next Saturday at VfB Stuttgart.
Thanks to goals from Nicklas Shipnoski (25th) and Merveille Biankadi (29th) and nerves of steel from the point in front of 21,452 spectators in the Schüco Arena, the two-league relegated from East Westphalia can look forward to additional income of 431,200 euros. Even goals from Takuma Asano (45.2) and Simon Zoller (90.1) could not avert Bochum’s surprising defeat. In the penalty thriller, Philipp Hofmann and Kevin Stöger missed.
