German cup upsets avoided
October 30, 2012
Reigning German Cup champions Borussia Dortmund took another convincing step towards retaining their title Tuesday evening, thrashing second-division VfR Aalen 4-1.
Germany international Mats Hummels put his side ahead in the 22nd minute when he received a Kevin Grosskreutz pass in the box. The defender fired it into the top of the net from close range, and Dortmund never looked back.
Marcel Schmelzer, Mario Götze and Julian Schieber all got on the scoresheet, giving the visitors a 4-0 lead with just over 20 minutes to go. An 87th minute Michael Klauss goal did little to stop Aalen from elimination.
Schalke, who hoisted the German Cup in 2011, breezed to a 3-0 victory over SV Sandhausen. Ibrahim Afellay gave the visitors a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute when he finished a cross from Ciprian Marica.
The Romanian forward found the back of the net himself in the 62nd minute, and Klaas Jan Huntelaar put the game away 17 minutes later. Schalke have now gone eight games without a loss - a run that includes victories over Dortmund and English club Arsenal.
All wins for Bundesliga sides
SC Freiburg earned a comfortable 2-0 victory over second-tier Eintracht Braunschweig earlier in the evening.
The visitors grabbed their first goal just 35 seconds after kickoff when midfielder Daniel Caligiuri put a Sebastian Freis cross into the left corner.
It would be a full 83 minutes until their next goal, with Johannes Flum converting on a free kick. Mensur Mujdza's ball into the box found Julian Schuster at the far post. Schuster headed it across goal to a wide open Flum, who made it 2-0 and put the game away.
It was a much less convincing victory from FC Augsburg, who managed a narrow 1-0 victory over third-division Pressen Münster. It was never going to be an easy game for the Bundesliga club, whose opponents knocked Werder Bremen out of the competition with a 4-2 victory in the first round.
Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker's powerful 69th minute low, driving attempt from outside the box proved to be the only goal of the evening. Despite trailing, Münster pressured for the remainder of the game, but Augsburg held on and advanced to the next round.
Mainz also dispatched their lower league opponents with a win against Erzgebirge Aue. Goals from Andreas Ivanschnitz and Yunus Malli gave the Bavarian side a 2-0 victory against their second division opponent, assuring that every Bundesliga side would advance on Tuesday.
Minnows bow out
Wormatia Worms went out 4-3 in a penalty shootout to FC Cologne after neither side could manage a goal in 120 minutes of play. It was a tough defeat for the fourth-tier side, who surprised many with their first round victory over Hertha Berlin.
Worm's fourth-tier colleagues, Berliner AK 07, also ended their German Cup run with a 3-0 defeat at home to second-division 1860 Munich. It was a convincing win from the visiting Bavarians.
Moritz Stoppelkamp was the star of the show, opening the scoring in the 38th minute when he was put through on goal and rounded the keeper. He bagged a second in the 62nd minute, and turned provider for Ismael Blanco's 89th minute goal that all but ended the capital city club's cup chances.
TSV Havelse became the final fourth-tier team to exit the competition, falling 3-1 at home to VfL Bochum. The hosts went ahead in the 17th minute through a Patrick Posipal goal, but that lead changed hands with goals from Alexander Lashvilli and Marc Rzatkowski.
For a moment it seemed as though Havelse might draw level in the dying moments of the match, but those hopes were dashed through a stoppage-time goal from Michael Ortega. With Havelse's goalkeeper thrust forward into the attack, the Colombian launched a long ball towards an empty net, assuring the final play of the game would be a Bochum goal.
Bochum's victory meant that there were no upsets in Tuesday's German Cup action. Not a single team was defeated by a lower-division opponent - a stark contrast to the first round's plethora of unpredictable results.