Bundesliga athletes persist in countering their initial sense of humiliation
Initial DFB Cup excitement postponed as top squads wait their turn. RB Leipzig and Union Berlin delay their debuts, but Leipzig emerges victorious in the end. Other teams handle their tasks with ease. All eight premier league clubs that started remain active.
Rot-Weiss Essen - RB Leipzig 1:4 (1:2)
An early scare, missed opportunities - and in the end, a comfortable victory against the third division team: The twice DFB Cup champion RB Leipzig overcame its first obstacle at Rot-Weiss Essen after initial challenges and celebrated a victorious start to the season. In the 4-1 (2-1) win at the Hafenstraße stadium, Leipzig missed showstoppers - and left numerous opportunities unclaimed.
After the chilling wake-up call by Essen's Ramien Safi's goal (2.), Benjamin Sesko (12.) and Lois Openda (40.) turned the tide before half-time. In the presence of coaching legend Otto Rehhagel, a native of Essen, the guests squandered multiple big chances in the second half and added unexpected tension to the game. Only with the goals of Antonio Nusa (84.) and Xavi Simons (87.) was it all settled.
The opening did not go well for the clear favorite. Safi slipped past the alert Leipzigers, kept his cool in front of the goal, and sparked excitement at the Hafenstraße with the opening act. RB recovered swiftly, encircled Essen in their own penalty area, and equalized with a header from Sesko.
Following the rapid start, the game evened out, Leipzig controlled the ball, Essen waited for counterattacks. One of them, Ahmet Arslan (19.), fired a powerful volley wide of the goal. On the other side, a shot from Simons (22.) narrowly missed Jakob Golz's goal.
Essen grew increasingly passive despite the boisterous crowd, Leipzig seized this opportunity to take the lead before half-time with a lovely combination involving Sesko and Openda. Afterwards, Leipzig squandered their opportunities for a decisive lead: Sesko (58., 60.) missed a brace from point-blank range twice. Openda (60., 64.) also missed two high-quality chances, failing each time against Golz. Only in the late stages did RB show more purpose - and added to their tally.
Greifswalder FC - 1. FC Union Berlin 0:1 (0:0)
Union Berlin advanced to the second round with a hard-fought 1-0 (0-0) victory in its first round match against the brave regional league team Greifswalder FC. The offensively ineffective Berliners struggled against the underdog at times.
Yorbe Vertessen (67.), who came on as a substitute, was the catalyst for Union's advancement. New coach Bo Svensson, who took over after the dismissal of Urs Fischer and Nenad Bjelica at the end of last season, now prepares for an emotional league debut. On Saturday (3:15 PM/Sky), the Dane will travel with Union to his former club FSV Mainz 05 for the Bundesliga opener.
FC 08 Villingen - 1. FC Heidenheim 0:4 (0:1)
The 1. FC Heidenheim has confidently cleared its opening hurdle and kicked off its debut season in the Europa League with confidence. Led by hat-trick hero Maximilian Breunig, the Heidenheimers dismantled Regionalliga newcomers FC 08 Villingen with a 4-0 (1-0) victory, gaining valuable confidence for their historic playoff first leg against BK Häcken in the Conference League. The encounter takes place in Sweden on Thursday.
Breunig (42', 48', 53') and Bayern loanee Paul Wanner (52') were the driving forces behind this successful warm-up, which should also give coach Frank Schmidt reason to be hopeful despite the question marks surrounding his new squad.
FC Ingolstadt - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 1:2 (0:2)
Last year's finalist 1. FC Kaiserslautern advanced to the second round despite playing a man down for much of the game. The second division side defeated FC Ingolstadt 2-1 (2-0) and relied on Jannik Mause: The 26-year-old, who was FCI's top scorer in the 3rd league with 18 goals last season, scored twice against his former team (3', 36'). After Jan Gyamerah was shown a yellow-red card (49'), the game became tense again. However, only Ryan Malone (88') managed to score for Ingolstadt.
Before that, Kaiserslautern goalkeeper Julian Krahl prevented an early goal with several outstanding saves. He denied David Kopacz (57', 59') twice in rapid succession and was also on hand to thwart Marcel Costly's attempt (69'). Despite playing a man down, Kaiserslautern found it difficult to find any respite. Ingolstadt pressed for the equalizer, but the second division side showed great tenacity. Malone's goal came too late for FCI.
Julian Schuster basked in his victorious debut as SC Freiburg's new coach, propelling the Bundesliga squad into the next round. With his predecessor, Christian Streich, now history, Schuster managed a 4-0 (2:0) thumping against Division III team VfL Osnabrück. However, frailties in defense surfaced a week before their league opener against second-place VfB Stuttgart.
Freiburg required thirty minutes to gain traction, but once they did, they barely looked back. Lucas Höler (30') and Vincenzo Grifo (33') sealed the early advantage for the favorites with two swift goals. Junior Adamu (73', 90'+4) later amplified the lead.
Osnabrück had its chances before Freiburg's sudden onslaught. Niklas Niehoff (1'), Robert Tesche (7'), and Ba-Muaka Simakala (16') each had opportunities, with Simakala coming tantalizingly close as his shot struck the post. But Freiburg's momentum proved insurmountable as Höler opened the scoring.
VfR Aalen - FC Schalke 04 0:2 (0:1)
Schalke 04 clinched a 2:0 (1:0) victory against VfR Aalen in the second round, thanks to Simon Terodde (38') and Marius Bülter (76') scoring the goals.
Unheralded Schalke 04 seals their advancement into the next round after bypassing Division V team VfR Aalen with minimal media attention. Their 2:0 (1:0) triumph rode on the absence of VAR in the opening half, resulting in a questionable penalty denial (13') and Karaman's offside goal (31') standing as the deciding factor.
Aalen, relegated from the Regionalliga Südwest to the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg last year, stormed the pitch demanding penalties, particularly in the 13th minute when Benjamin Kindsvater's cross hit Schalke's new addition Felipe Sanchez's arm. VAR, adopted by the league only from the round of 16, was not yet operative.
Referee Felix Brych, following his return from a knee injury in the winter, permitted Karaman's goal to stand. Later, Tobias Mohr (68') boosted their lead, and Karaman came close to adding another (82'). This trend bears favorable omens for Schalke as their 2010/11 DFB-Pokal campaign began with a victory in Aalen, culminating in their last cup victory.
Despite the early challenge from Rot-Weiss Essen's Ramien Safi, resulting in a momentary excitement in the Hafenstraße stadium, the twice DFB Cup champion RB Leipzig managed to recover and secure a 4-1 victory, with key contributions from Benjamin Sesko and Lois Openda.
In the context of the DFB Cup, Unheralded Schalke 04 clinched their advancement into the next round with a 2-0 triumph against VfR Aalen, benefiting from the absence of VAR in the first half and potentially looking back to their last cup victory in Aalen back in 2010/11.
