The first round of the 2024/25 DFB-Pokal kicked off on Friday night and three Bundesliga sides all narrowly secured progression. FC St. Pauli scored an equalising goal in the final minute of regular time to save themselves against fourth-division side Hallescher FC, while 1. FSV Mainz 05 won 3-1 at neighbours SV Wehen Wiesbaden. TSG Hoffenheim were even taken to penalties by Regionalliga outfit Würzburger Kickers, but scored all five of their spot-kicks to make the next round. The late kick-off slot saw FC Bayern comfortably win 4-0 against SSV Ulm.
Dzwigala saves St. Pauli
Newly-promoted Bundesliga side FC St. Pauli started brightly against Hallescher FC, but surprisingly went behind after 11 minutes. Cyrill Akono stole the ball off goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj in the six-yard box and subsequently scored from close range. Halle got stuck in and managed to defend their lead for the remainder of the first half.
A fine move saw the visitors draw level just after the restart. Jackson Irvine’s fine chipped pass played Morgan Guilavogui in behind and he squared it for Johannes Eggestein, leaving him with a simple finish (48’). The fourth-division side continued to frustrate St. Pauli and went ahead for a second time in the 62nd minute. Some sublime work down the left wing by Robin Friedrich assisted Marius Hauptmann and he made it 2-1.
St. Pauli threw everything they had at the home team in search of an equaliser. They eventually got it in the fourth minute of added time. Lars Ritzka played a ball in from out wide and Adam Dzwigala produced a great finish to save St. Pauli’s blushes. Ritzka then scored himself in the 110th minute, heading in a cross at the far post to complete the comeback.
Mainz come from behind to win
1. FSV Mainz 05 also went behind early on despite a promising start. Their neighbours Wehen Wiesbaden broke the deadlock after 14 minutes via Tarik Gözüsirin, who capitalised on the 05ers not clearing their lines properly in the box. Robin Zentner produced a great save to keep it at 1-0 just before the break from Moritz Flotho’s header (45’+3).
Bo Henriksen’s team levelled proceedings after 59 minutes. Jae-sung Lee slipped in Dominik Kohr and he struck the ball into the far corner for 1-1. Despite pushing hard for a winning goal, Mainz couldn’t find one and the game therefore went to extra time.
The additional 30 minutes also looked to be ending without a goal – until the 113th minute. Florian Carstens’ slide tackle to deny Karim Onisiwo a shot inadvertently teed up Jonny Burkardt and he shot first time to give Mainz the advantage. Nadiem Amiri sealed the victory in injury time at the end of extra time (120’+1).
Drama in Würzburg
Just like fellow Bundesliga sides St. Pauli and Mainz, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim also went behind on Friday night. Goalkeeper Luca Philipp let a back pass slip under his foot and Enes Küc was on hand to put Würzburger Kickers ahead (10’). It didn’t take TSG long to respond with a goal of their own though: new signing Alexander Prass converted via a deflection (18’). Jacob Bruun Larsen forced Johan Hipper into a good save on the stroke of half time (42’), before a quiet second half saw yet another game on the night go to extra time.
The underdogs started extra time well and went 2-1 up. Moritz Hannemann won possession back in Hoffenheim’s half, drove forward into the box and then beat Philipp with a shot across the goalkeeper (100’). Pellegrino Matarazzo’s charges didn’t give up though, and they managed to equalise for a second time on the night. Marius Bülter got their goal just after half time in extra time (107’). TSG scored all five penalties and Philipp was able to atone for his earlier error by saving Fabian Wessig’s spot-kick to send Hoffenheim through.
Bayern easily through
The opening 10 minutes saw SSV Ulm start bravely, as they looked to pose problems for their opponents. Thomas Müller then netted a quickfire brace to put the record champions 2-0 ahead, setting his side up for victory. A shot from Joshua Kimmich was parried by goalkeeper Christian Ortag (12'), but fell into the path of Müller, who only had to slot home into the bottom right corner. Just two minutes later, Kim Min-jae picked out Serge Gnabry with a pass, who squared it for the onrushing Müller, as he tapped in his second of the night (14'). FCB were firmly in control at this point, but were unable to add to their tally before half-time.
Their dominance continued after the break. Despite efforts from Ulm to get back into the game, the hosts instead conceded for the third time in the 79th minute. Substitute Michael Olise set up fellow Frenchman Kingsley Coman with a fine ball in from the right flank to make it 3-0. As we entered the final minutes of play, Müller was able to pick out Harry Kane inside the box, as the striker headed in his side's fourth and final goal of the game.
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The first round of the 2024/25 DFB-Pokal kicked off on Friday night and three Bundesliga sides all narrowly secured progression. FC St. Pauli scored an equalising goal in the final minute of regular time to save themselves against fourth-division side Hallescher FC, while 1. FSV Mainz 05 won 3-1 at neighbours SV Wehen Wiesbaden. TSG Hoffenheim were even taken to penalties by Regionalliga outfit Würzburger Kickers, but scored all five of their spot-kicks to make the next round. The late kick-off slot saw FC Bayern comfortably win 4-0 against SSV Ulm.
Dzwigala saves St. Pauli
Newly-promoted Bundesliga side FC St. Pauli started brightly against Hallescher FC, but surprisingly went behind after 11 minutes. Cyrill Akono stole the ball off goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj in the six-yard box and subsequently scored from close range. Halle got stuck in and managed to defend their lead for the remainder of the first half.
A fine move saw the visitors draw level just after the restart. Jackson Irvine’s fine chipped pass played Morgan Guilavogui in behind and he squared it for Johannes Eggestein, leaving him with a simple finish (48’). The fourth-division side continued to frustrate St. Pauli and went ahead for a second time in the 62nd minute. Some sublime work down the left wing by Robin Friedrich assisted Marius Hauptmann and he made it 2-1.
St. Pauli threw everything they had at the home team in search of an equaliser. They eventually got it in the fourth minute of added time. Lars Ritzka played a ball in from out wide and Adam Dzwigala produced a great finish to save St. Pauli’s blushes. Ritzka then scored himself in the 110th minute, heading in a cross at the far post to complete the comeback.
Mainz come from behind to win
1. FSV Mainz 05 also went behind early on despite a promising start. Their neighbours Wehen Wiesbaden broke the deadlock after 14 minutes via Tarik Gözüsirin, who capitalised on the 05ers not clearing their lines properly in the box. Robin Zentner produced a great save to keep it at 1-0 just before the break from Moritz Flotho’s header (45’+3).
Bo Henriksen’s team levelled proceedings after 59 minutes. Jae-sung Lee slipped in Dominik Kohr and he struck the ball into the far corner for 1-1. Despite pushing hard for a winning goal, Mainz couldn’t find one and the game therefore went to extra time.
The additional 30 minutes also looked to be ending without a goal – until the 113th minute. Florian Carstens’ slide tackle to deny Karim Onisiwo a shot inadvertently teed up Jonny Burkardt and he shot first time to give Mainz the advantage. Nadiem Amiri sealed the victory in injury time at the end of extra time (120’+1).
Drama in Würzburg
Just like fellow Bundesliga sides St. Pauli and Mainz, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim also went behind on Friday night. Goalkeeper Luca Philipp let a back pass slip under his foot and Enes Küc was on hand to put Würzburger Kickers ahead (10’). It didn’t take TSG long to respond with a goal of their own though: new signing Alexander Prass converted via a deflection (18’). Jacob Bruun Larsen forced Johan Hipper into a good save on the stroke of half time (42’), before a quiet second half saw yet another game on the night go to extra time.
The underdogs started extra time well and went 2-1 up. Moritz Hannemann won possession back in Hoffenheim’s half, drove forward into the box and then beat Philipp with a shot across the goalkeeper (100’). Pellegrino Matarazzo’s charges didn’t give up though, and they managed to equalise for a second time on the night. Marius Bülter got their goal just after half time in extra time (107’). TSG scored all five penalties and Philipp was able to atone for his earlier error by saving Fabian Wessig’s spot-kick to send Hoffenheim through.
Bayern easily through
The opening 10 minutes saw SSV Ulm start bravely, as they looked to pose problems for their opponents. Thomas Müller then netted a quickfire brace to put the record champions 2-0 ahead, setting his side up for victory. A shot from Joshua Kimmich was parried by goalkeeper Christian Ortag (12'), but fell into the path of Müller, who only had to slot home into the bottom right corner. Just two minutes later, Kim Min-jae picked out Serge Gnabry with a pass, who squared it for the onrushing Müller, as he tapped in his second of the night (14'). FCB were firmly in control at this point, but were unable to add to their tally before half-time.
Their dominance continued after the break. Despite efforts from Ulm to get back into the game, the hosts instead conceded for the third time in the 79th minute. Substitute Michael Olise set up fellow Frenchman Kingsley Coman with a fine ball in from the right flank to make it 3-0. As we entered the final minutes of play, Müller was able to pick out Harry Kane inside the box, as the striker headed in his side's fourth and final goal of the game.
