Bundesliga sides FSV Mainz 05 and Eintracht Frankfurt required penalty shoot-outs to progress through the first round of the DFB Cup. Mainz eventually won 4-2 on penalties at Regionalliga side SpVgg Unterhaching after drawing 3-3 in normal time, while Eintracht won 2-1 on penalties after a 1-1 stalemate with 3.Liga side FC Magdeburg. Bayer Leverkusen, 1899 Hoffenheim and SV Darmstadt 98 all won without conceding. Hoffenheim progressed with a 6-0 victory at Regionalliga side and cup debutants FC Germania Egestorf-Langreder, having pulled away in the first half, while Darmstadt won 7-0 at Oberliga side Bremer SV. Leverkusen scraped into the next round with a 2-1 victory over Oberliga side SC Hauenstein. Also into the second round are 2. Bundesliga outfit Gruether Fürth after a 4-1 win against Eintracht Norderstedt from the Regionalliga.
Mainz 05 had to go the distance against the Bavarian minnows that made it to the round of 16 in last season’s DFB Cup. Jhon Cordoba put the Zerofivers in the lead, but Stefan Hain grabbed an equaliser just ten minutes later. Fabian Frei and Yunus Malli put Mainz two ahead in the second half, with the Europa League side looking set for victory with just two minutes of normal time remaining. But Hain and Vitalij Lux brought Haching level in dramatic fashion with a goal each in added time. Mainz’s Giulio Donati was sent off after being shown a second yellow card in the 113th minute and the match would be decided by penalties. Mainz showed their superiority and held their nerve to win the shoot-out 4-2.
Eintracht Frankfurt took an early lead in Magdeburg through Branimir Hrgota and led for most of the game, before the hosts resurrected their dream of progressing to the second round thanks to an 86th minute equalizer from Nico Hammann. After Frankfurt’s Michael Hector was shown his second yellow card midway through extra time, the lower-league side began to take control of the match. In the penalty shootout, Magdeburg‘s Steffen Puttkammer and Gerrit Müller fluffed their lines, but were saved when Eintracht’s Makoto Hasebe and Omar Mascarell also missed their spot-kicks. Frankfurt‘s Lukas Hradecky then saved Jan Lohmannsröben’s attempt, before Guillermo Varela converted the winning penalty. Magdeburg have now been knocked out of the DFB Cup on penalties for the fourth year in a row.
Hoffenheim and Darmstadt reign supreme
FC Germania lasted until the 18th minute, when Andrej Kramaric set Hoffenheim on the road to victory in Barsinghausen. Just three minutes later, Germany international Sebastian Rudy doubled their lead. Shortly before the break, Kramaric and Mark Uth increased the score with a goal each. In the second half, Uth failed to add a second to his name when he missed from the penalty spot. Egestorf’s Mirko Dismer was sent off after a second yellow card offence, and Hoffenheim’s Pavel Kaderabek was next to follow with a red card after 72 minutes. Still there was more to come, with Kramaric completing his hat-trick in the 80th minute and Sandro Wagner wrapping up the win with a 90th minute strike.
In similarly emphatic fashion, Darmstadt scored their first two goals in quick succession. A 19th minute strike from Antonio-Mirko Colak followed by Sebastian Kmiec’s 22nd minute effort gave the Lillies a commanding 2-0 lead. Marcel Heller and Colak increased the score with a goal each before half-time. After the break, the Bundesliga side secured victory with goals from Jerome Gondorf, Colak and Sven Schipplock.
Leverkusen stumble through
Leverkusen struggled in the early stages in Hauenstein, but Chicharito broke the deadlock in the 39th minute, before Karim Bellarabi extended Leverkusen’s lead in the 68th. Andjelo Srzentic ensured a tense finish with an 81st minute goal, but his side were unable to provide a late equalizer.
Gruether Fürth had to wait until the 42nd minute before Robert Zulj broke the deadlock in Nordestedt, before Serdar Dursun then made it 2-0 in the 71st minute. The hosts managed to reduce the deficit with an 81st minute goal by Felix Drinkuth, but Zlatko Tripic restored the two-goal lead in the 89th minute and Benedikt Kirsch finished off a 4-1 win for the Gruether Shamrocks late into added time.
Duisburg had the better chances to take the lead in their cup tie, but the first goal came from Union Berlin striker Collin Quaner midway through the second period. The Zebras didn’t have to wait long though, as Stanislav Iljutcenko got the equaliser in the 67th minute. Steven Skrzybski, however, scored the winner for Union five minutes into extra time to send the away end into raptures, as their side reached the second round for the first time in three years.
