There were no major upsets in the early fixtures on Wednesday in the DFB Cup second round. Bayer 04 Leverkusen secured a comfortable 6-0 win in the Rhine derby with fourth-division side Viktoria Köln, not least thanks to a brilliant performance by Julian Brandt. Borussia Dortmund conceded the opener against SC Paderborn, but still managed to cruise to a 7-1 home win against the 2. Bundesliga outfit.
The Bundesliga’s bottom side FC Augsburg recorded a solid 3-0 victory at current 2. Bundesliga table toppers SC Freiburg, while the encounter between SV Sandhausen and 1. FC Heidenheim, both second-division teams, went into extra time before Heidenheim booked a ticket for the next stage, winning 4-3 on penalties.
Flawless Leverkusen win Rhine derby
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have been prone to early cup exits in recent years, but that was not the case in Cologne. Germany U21 international Julian Brandt opened the scoring after 15 minutes and he was involved in the next two goals as well, with Die Mannschaft’s Karim Bellarabi and Javier Hernandez extending the lead to 3-0 before half time.
The second half continued with Leverkusen controlling the action and Brandt running the show as he provided his third assist of the night with Hernandez scoring his second goal ten minutes after the restart. Germany international Lars Bender celebrated his comeback in the second half following his recovery from an ankle injury. Stefan Kießling and Wladlen Jurtschenko were on target in the closing stages, giving Leverkusen a 6-0 victory.
Dortmund hit Paderborn for seven
Last year's cup finalists Borussia Dortmund conceded a first-half opener through Srdjan Lakic after a mistake from keeper Roman Bürki, but the goal only seemed to provoke BVB, as they quickly turned the game around with goals from Adrian Ramos, Gonzalo Castro and Shinji Kagawa giving them a 3-1 lead at half time.
Germany international Ilkay Gündogan extended the hosts' lead from the spot after the break, before Castro bagged his second goal of the night just before the hour mark. Two late goals from substitute Lukasz Piszczek and Henrikh Mkhitaryan completed the rout as new Paderborn coach Stefan Effenberg suffered his first defeat since taking over.
Augsburg win at 2. Bundesliga leaders
The encounter featuring the Bundesliga’s bottom side and the 2. Bundesliga table toppers was controlled early on from the top-flight club, as Augsburg took a lead from Dong-Won Ji's strike on eleven minutes. Freiburg responded immediately but Mike Frantz' effort only hit the crossbar and a few moments later, FCA keeper Marwin Hitz made a good save against Maximilian Philipp. Just as Freiburg were pushing for the equaliser, Augsburg doubled their lead thanks to Alexander Esswein's goal after 25 minutes.
Freiburg were not willing to give up and had a bright start to the second half but again they conceded against the run of play, with Caiuby finishing off a well executed counterattack five minutes after the restart and essentially sealing the victory for the visitors.
Heidenheim win on penalties
There were no major upsets in the early fixtures on Wednesday in the DFB Cup second round. Bayer 04 Leverkusen secured a comfortable 6-0 win in the Rhine derby with fourth-division side Viktoria Köln, not least thanks to a brilliant performance by Julian Brandt. Borussia Dortmund conceded the opener against SC Paderborn, but still managed to cruise to a 7-1 home win against the 2. Bundesliga outfit.
The Bundesliga’s bottom side FC Augsburg recorded a solid 3-0 victory at current 2. Bundesliga table toppers SC Freiburg, while the encounter between SV Sandhausen and 1. FC Heidenheim, both second-division teams, went into extra time before Heidenheim booked a ticket for the next stage, winning 4-3 on penalties.
Flawless Leverkusen win Rhine derby
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have been prone to early cup exits in recent years, but that was not the case in Cologne. Germany U21 international Julian Brandt opened the scoring after 15 minutes and he was involved in the next two goals as well, with Die Mannschaft’s Karim Bellarabi and Javier Hernandez extending the lead to 3-0 before half time.
The second half continued with Leverkusen controlling the action and Brandt running the show as he provided his third assist of the night with Hernandez scoring his second goal ten minutes after the restart. Germany international Lars Bender celebrated his comeback in the second half following his recovery from an ankle injury. Stefan Kießling and Wladlen Jurtschenko were on target in the closing stages, giving Leverkusen a 6-0 victory.
Dortmund hit Paderborn for seven
Last year's cup finalists Borussia Dortmund conceded a first-half opener through Srdjan Lakic after a mistake from keeper Roman Bürki, but the goal only seemed to provoke BVB, as they quickly turned the game around with goals from Adrian Ramos, Gonzalo Castro and Shinji Kagawa giving them a 3-1 lead at half time.
Germany international Ilkay Gündogan extended the hosts' lead from the spot after the break, before Castro bagged his second goal of the night just before the hour mark. Two late goals from substitute Lukasz Piszczek and Henrikh Mkhitaryan completed the rout as new Paderborn coach Stefan Effenberg suffered his first defeat since taking over.
Augsburg win at 2. Bundesliga leaders
The encounter featuring the Bundesliga’s bottom side and the 2. Bundesliga table toppers was controlled early on from the top-flight club, as Augsburg took a lead from Dong-Won Ji's strike on eleven minutes. Freiburg responded immediately but Mike Frantz' effort only hit the crossbar and a few moments later, FCA keeper Marwin Hitz made a good save against Maximilian Philipp. Just as Freiburg were pushing for the equaliser, Augsburg doubled their lead thanks to Alexander Esswein's goal after 25 minutes.
Freiburg were not willing to give up and had a bright start to the second half but again they conceded against the run of play, with Caiuby finishing off a well executed counterattack five minutes after the restart and essentially sealing the victory for the visitors.
Heidenheim win on penalties
Sandhausen and Heidenheim are both playing above expectations in the 2. Bundesliga at the moment, but the two teams were lacking drive in the first half of their cup encounter and there weren’t any real chances in the opening 45 minutes.
The second half provided more entertainment for the spectators, as Sandhausen's Florian Hübner was sent off ten minutes after the break for a professional foul inside the area. Heidenheim's Robert Leipertz was unable to convert against SVS keeper Knaller though. Unimpressed with having missed a penalty, Heidenheim were now looking to take advantage of playing against ten men but Sandhausen defended cleverly and managed to force extra time.
Sandhausen appeared to be the more proactive team in extra time but were unable to break the deadlock which meant the game had to be decided by a penalty shootout. Sandhausen's Aziz Bouhaddouz and Leart Paqarada failed to convert their attempts, while the first three Heidenheim players all scored from the spot. Knaller's save against Marcel Titsch-Rivero gave Sandhausen a lifeline but Arne Feick converted Heidenheim's final penalty to give the visitors a 4-3 victory.
