German Cup: Troubled Leverkusen lose to Lotte, Freiburg out
October 25, 2016
Sportfreunde Lotte 2 – 2 Bayer Leverkusen (4-3 on penalties)
(Volland 25', 95'– Hilbert (og) 47', Freiberger 105')
With their coach suspended but a strong team out on a sub-standard pitch, troubled Leverkusen sunk further in to despair after losing on penalties to the 10 men of third tier Sportfreunde Lotte. A brace from Kevin Volland twice gave Leverkusen the lead but twice they threw it away before a penalty miss from Julian Baumgartlinger allowed Lotte to secure their second giantkilling of the season.
The visitors started sharply and it was no surprise when Volland broke the deadlock with his first goal for the club. Stefan Kiessling expertly controlled a long ball before playing Volland in. The German international, who was sent off at the weekend but available for the German Cup, did the rest with a simple finish.
That should have made things comfortable for the favorites but Lotte, who knocked out Werder Bremen in the first round, looked to have equalized almost immediately. Center back Matthias Rahn nodded home from a free kick, only to see the linesman's flag raised. Replays showed the home side had every right to feel aggrieved with the decision. Soon after the restart, Leverkusen failed to heed the warning and the home side were level. Roberto Hilbert fatally misjudged the bounce of the ball crossed from the right and turned the ball in to his own net with his outstretched arm.
Lotte's Tim Wendel saw red after a second booking with ten minutes remaining but still Leverkusen labored as the game moved in to extra time. Finally the pressure told though, and Volland grabbed his second, volleying in at the back post. But again, Leverkusen let the lead slip. This time neat build-up play on the right saw the ball arrive at Kevin Freiberger's feet in the box and he gleefully tucked home.
Both sides struggled in the shootout with a number of dreadful misses including a miss from Charles Aranguiz to get the shoot-out started and a woefully undercooked 'Panenka' from Lotte, but after Baumgartlinger's spot kick was saved, Luka Tankulic held his nerve and booked Lotte's place in the third round.
Hallescher 0 - 4 Hamburg
(Wood 25', 43', Lasogga 58', Waldschmidt 82')
Bundesliga basement club Hamburg secured the first win of Markus Gisdol's reign with a comfortable victory over third tier Hallescher thanks largely to a brace from American international Bobby Wood.
The promising striker opened the scoring with a clever finish minutes before doubling both his and his teams' tally just before the break when he showed great strength before finishing in clinical fashion from the edge of the box.
Pierre-Michel Lasogga then joined the party with his first goal of the season before Luca Waldschmidt's left-footed finish iced the cake and ensured that in one night Hamburg had doubled their goal tally from their eight Bundesliga games this term.
Freiburg 3 – 3 Sandhausen (3-4 on penalties)
(Daehli 21', Grifo 76', Petersen 82' – Kister 39', Wooten 52', Sakuta-Pasu 64')
Freiburg couldn't carry their impressive Bundesliga home form in to the German Cup as a defensive horror show ended their cup run, despite a late fightback.
The night started well for the hosts when Mats Möller Daehli opened the scoring with his first goal for the club. The visitors failed to adequately clear a long throw in to the box and the loose ball eventually fell to the Norwegian who stroked home with his left foot from just inside the box.
The top-flight team, who have won their last four league games at home, weren't having it all their own way though and Tim Kister soon restored parity. Following a corner, Freiburg's reserve keeper Rafal Gikiewicz spilt two efforts before the defender finally lashed home. American Andrew Wooten then took advantage of a number of defensive errors from the hosts to stab home from inside the box shortly after the break.
Another string of gaffes from the Freiburg backline looked to have sealed the top flight side's fate. First they lost possession, then failed to clear once it was regained before allowing a cross to be slid across the six-yard box for Richard Sakuta-Pasu to tap home.
Vincenzo Grifo's angled drive from the left on 76 minutes reduced the deficit before Phillip Klingmann misjudged a header and landed on Janik Haberer, giving away a penalty which Nils Petersen slammed home.
Both sides endured a rollercoaster of emotions in the shoot-out as neither side could take advantage of the other's misses. Petersen fired his into the sky, Marc Torrejon failed to find the net and when Sanhausen took the lead late on, Haberer had to score. Marco Knaller made the save though, delivering a final twist on one of Sandhausen's greatest nights.
St Pauli 0 – 2 Hertha Berlin
(Weiser 43', Stocker 54)
Hertha Berlin continued their flying start to the season with a routine win over second division St Pauli, thanks to goals from Mitchell Weiser and Valentin Stocker.
The visitors took the lead just before the break when a blocked clearance fell to Weiser on the edge of the box and he drilled a firm, low strike in to the far corner.
The German winger was involved again as Hertha doubled their lead. The former Bayern Munich player turned his full back inside out before dinking a cross to the back post for Stocker to nod in.
Other German Cup Round 2 results:
Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-0 Stuttgart
Dynamo Dresden 0-1 Arminia Bielefeld
Eintracht Frankfurt 0-0 Ingolstadt (4-1 on penalties)
Würzburger Kickers 0-0 1860 Munich (3-4 on penalties)