On Saturday, too, the fans of the underdogs in the DFB Cup hope in vain. But that doesn’t mean that the Bundesliga teams aren’t having any trouble at all.
The favorites from the Bundesliga also kept themselves unscathed in the DFB Cup on Saturday. RB Leipzig reached the second round with a 4:1 (2:1) win against third division Rot-Weiss Essen, SC Freiburg won 4:0 (2:0) against third division VfL Osnabrück. 1. FC Heidenheim won 4:0 (1:0) against regional league FC Villingen, Borussia Mönchengladbach won 3:1 (1:1) against third division Erzgebirge Aue. 1. FC Union had some trouble against regional league Greifswalder FC, but then managed a 1:0 (0:0) win.
The cup starters from the 2nd league also celebrated: 1. FC Kaiserslautern, finalists from the previous season, won 2-1 (2-0) against third division club FC Ingolstadt. SpVgg Greuther Fürth won 2-0 (1-0) against top division club Schott Mainz. FC Schalke 04 won 2-0 (1-0) against regional league club VfR Aalen.
Leipzig initially had some trouble in Essen. The underdog took the lead through Ramien Safi (2nd), but Benjamin Sesko (12th) brought the two-time cup winners back on track early on, before Loïs Openda (40th) also scored for coach Marco Rose’s Leipzig team before half-time. New signing Antonio Nusa (84th) and Xavi Simons (87th) made everything clear.
Mönchengladbach also fell behind at first: new signing Mika Clausen put Aue in the lead in the eighth minute. But Franck Honorat (35th) and Luca Netz (52nd) turned the game in the Bundesliga team’s favour. Alassane Pléa’s goal (70th) decided the game. Julian Weigl had meanwhile failed to save a penalty from Aue’s goalkeeper Martin Männel (45th+4).
In Osnabrück, Lucas Höler (30th) and Vincenzo Grifo (33rd) gave Freiburg a reassuring lead in their first competitive match under new coach Julian Schuster. Junior Adamu (73rd) finally decided the game and then scored again in injury time (90th+4). Union Berlin needed a little longer, but then scored the decisive goal in Greifswald through Yorbe Vertessen (67th).
Heidenheim only took the lead against the fourth division team in the Black Forest shortly before half-time, Maximilian Breunig (43′) scored. After the break, the Bundesliga team had no more problems. Breunig (48’/54′) and Paul Wanner (52′) scored again.
Source: Stern
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