Werder Bremen, VfL Bochum and now FC Augsburg: The list of top division clubs that did not make it through the first round of the DFB Cup is getting longer. SC Freiburg struggled with a fifth division team for a long time, but Eintracht Frankfurt ended up scoring well.
SV Oberachern – SC Freiburg 0:2 (0:0)
With a lot of effort, SC Freiburg won its unusual away game in the venerable Dreisam Stadium and thus reached the second round of the DFB Cup. In the Baden derby, the Bundesliga soccer team beat fifth division team SV Oberachern, which had been surprisingly strong for a long time, 2-0 (0-0). Christian Günter (60th minute) and Roland Sallai (77th) scored for Freiburg in front of 24,500 spectators. The game was not played in Oberachern, but in the Dreisamstadion, the former home of the sports club.
The outsider played well in the first half and was even closer to the lead than the Europa League participants. Marvin Ludwig was the focus of attention twice: First, a header hit by the defender was disallowed for being offside (14′), then he hammered a free kick into the left post (27′). Nico Huber, the SVO’s only goal scorer in the 9-1 draw against Borussia Mönchengladbach in the first round of the previous season, shot over the goal from long range (37′). The cheeky attempt to lob the Freiburg keeper Noah Atubolu, who was far outside, was symbolic of the performance of the premier league. Goalkeeper Mark-Patrick Redl thwarted SC’s best chance against the conspicuous Sallai (40′). During the break, the Oberacherners were loudly cheered by their supporters.
After the change of sides, however, Freiburg increased the number of strokes – and were redeemed by their substitute captain. Günter, who broke his right arm in preparation for the season and therefore played with a splint, threw the ball into the bottom right corner from around 20 meters. The goal had an effect, and the favorites then had the game completely under control. Several attempts by the SC from afar failed, then Sallai made the decision with a well-placed low shot.
Lok Leipzig – Eintracht Frankfurt 0:7 (0:1)
Dino Toppmöller’s competitive game premiere was a success. The new head coach of Eintracht Frankfurt achieved a 7-0 (1-0) win with the Bundesliga side at regional league club 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig despite a long break due to firecracker throws. Scorer Randal Kolo Muani (37th minute) put the Hessians in the lead. Mario Götze (59th) made it 2-0 in front of 11,100 spectators in the sold-out Bruno Plache Stadium, before Omar Marmoush (66th), Junior Dina Ebimbe (83rd/90th + 14th) and Jessic Ngankam (89th/ 90.+10) further increased.
The game was interrupted in the 73rd minute due to firecrackers and pyrotechnics being thrown from the block of the locomotive fans. Referee Michael Bacher sent both teams into the dressing room when the score was 3-0. The match resumed after a 15-minute break. The 42-year-old Toppmöller did better than his two predecessors when it came to progressing: Under Adi Hütter, Frankfurt lost in the first round at SSV Ulm (1: 2) in 2018 and with Oliver Glasner in 2021 at Waldhof Mannheim (0: 2). The successor club to the first German champions VfB Leipzig (1903) started boldly and had the chance to take the lead through goalscorer Djamal Ziane. But the striker, who played his 250th game in the Lok jersey, failed in the eleventh minute to goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.
Eintracht remained unimpressed, had the match under control with a lot of possession, but was not convincing enough in front of the opposing goal. The Hessians had their first chance to score after 21 minutes with a long-range shot by Ellyes Skhiri, which went a meter over the goal. Without captain Sebastian Rode, who was only on the bench after his calf injury, but with junior Dina Ebimbe after his flu infection and with Kolo Muani and Jesper Lindström, who were willing to leave, Eintracht simply didn’t get enough. Lok set the next exclamation mark again when Tobias Dombrowa (35th) almost scored the lead with a header into the far corner – Trapp would have been powerless. The ball went just a few centimeters. Almost in return, the 1:0 came through Kolo Muani, who fired from an acute angle.
After the change, the game flattened out, but Eintracht continued to score. Often only the playful idol set accents. He made it 2-0 himself after shooting in a pass from Lindström safely from eight yards. Substitute Marmoush then scored with his first touch of the ball. After that, Dina Ebimbe and Ngankam raised. The game was accompanied by some firecrackers and pyrotechnics. The police had previously classified the encounter as a high-risk game, also because Eintracht maintains a fan friendship with locomotive rivals Chemie Leipzig. Nevertheless, the Frankfurt fans were hardly noticeable. A large police force was present in front of the Hessian fan block. According to the police, the firecrackers came from the locomotive block.
SpVgg Unterhaching – FC Augsburg 2:0 (1:0)
In the small cauldron of Unterhaching, FC Augsburg made a fool of themselves and were kicked out in the first round. The first division team deservedly lost 0:2 (0:1) to the bold third division promoted team. The long-distance runners from the SpVgg Unterhaching can look forward to a prize of 431,200 euros for entering the second main round. The completely renewed FC Augsburg received a first warning shot a week before their Bundesliga opener against Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Match winner for the Hachingers in front of 12,500 spectators in the sold-out Alpenbauer Sportpark was striker Mathias Fetsch, who caused huge cheers in the stands in the 28th minute. Just before the final whistle, Boipelo Mashigo completely freaked the stadium. The sluggish Augsburgers couldn’t do more than the big chance to equalize through the new captain Ermedin Demirovic shortly before the change of sides.
Augsburg’s sluggishness was punished in the first half with a dry left-footed shot by Fetsch, who benefited from the lay-off of his fellow striker Patrick Hobsch. The first division team never got up to operating temperature in the wonderful summer weather. Shortly before half-time, Augsburg’s Demirovic was saved by the safe goalkeeper René Vollath.
Haching’s club president, Manfred Schwabl, described the exciting opening game for his newly promoted third division team as “David versus Goliath”. And his David fought, toiled and attacked like an ambush to the end. The Augsburgers with their four newcomers (goalkeeper Finn Dahmen, defender Patric Pfeiffer, midfielder Tim Breithaupt and striker Sven Michel) in the starting line-up were far too static. Mashigo set the acclaimed conclusion for Haching.
TuS Makkabi Berlin – VfL Wolfsburg 0: 6 (0: 2)
VfL Wolfsburg did not show any weaknesses at Berlin’s fifth division club TuS Makkabi, the first Jewish club in the competition. Lower Saxony won 6-0 (2-0) in the Mommsen Stadium. Lukas Nmecha (8th minute) and Jonas Wind (9th) scored for Niko Kovac’s team and nipped Makkabi’s hopes of a sensation early on. Tiago Tomás (54th, 89th), Yannick Gerhardt (57th) and Ridle Baku (79th) increased in front of 5000 spectators in the second half. Makkabi was the first Jewish club to qualify by winning the Berlin State Cup – 85 years after its predecessor, Bar Kochba, had been banned in Germany under Nazi rule.
Maccabi trainer Wolfgang Sandhowe’s wish for bad weather conditions to compensate for the class difference was not fulfilled: no rain, no hail. Maccabi started boldly. Every successful action triggered great cheers in the audience. But the Bundesliga side quickly made things clear with two goals in quick succession. Nmecha converted a rebound from the post. Immediately afterwards, Makkabi’s goalkeeper Jack Krause wanted to play Wind after a back pass. The attempt failed, the Dane pushed in.
The Lower Saxony then downshifted a bit, but could have led higher. A goal by Kanto Voahariniaina (28th) for the home side did not count because of a narrow offside position. Shortly after the break, Tomás, who came on for the injured Nmecha, made the final decision. The forces of the Berliners subsided. Gerhardt, Baku and again Tomás made the final score.
FC Illertissen – Fortuna Dusseldorf 1: 3 (1: 2)
Fortuna Düsseldorf only mastered the first hurdle with great difficulty. The second division team trembled to a 3: 1 (2: 1) at the Bavarian regional league team FC Illertissen. Illertissen’s defender Kevin Frisorger with an own goal (3rd minute) and Vincent Vermeij (27th) gave the guests an early lead in front of 3719 spectators. Düsseldorf’s André Hoffmann (41st) made the game exciting again with the second own goal of the day. Illertissen dominated the second half, but only Fortuna striker Christos Tzolis (90+1) scored.
The Rhinelanders, who failed in the round of 16 at 1. FC Nürnberg last year, had a much harder time than expected. The cheeky hosts combined again and again worth seeing near the penalty area – but either the shot was too imprecise, Fortuna keeper Florian Kastenmeier parried or the shot smacked the crossbar, as in the example of Gökalp Kilic (84th). Illertissen finally had to accept the fourth defeat at the beginning of the fourth cup in his club’s history.
A violent storm over Swabia had caused a brief interruption of the first round game after a quarter of an hour. Both teams spent around twelve minutes in the dressing room while it was raining and hailing heavily outside. The picture failed in phases on the broadcasting pay-TV broadcaster Sky.
Rot-Weiss Koblenz – 1. FC Kaiserslautern 0:5 (0:3)
1. FC Kaiserslautern celebrated the first sense of achievement in the new season and effortlessly reached the second round. The second division team prevailed 5-0 (3-0) against the upper division club FC Rot-Weiss Koblenz. In front of 10,176 spectators in the sold-out Oberwerth stadium, Terrence Boyd, Julian Niehues (35th), Boris Tomiak (43rd) and Kenny Prince Redondo (66th) scored a penalty kick for the favorite in the 19th and 90th minute had started poorly with two defeats.
Coach Dirk Schuster’s team had no problems in the duel with the fifth-rate Koblenz team. FCK goalkeeper Julian Krahl only had to intervene once, when he prevented a possible equalizer with a foot defense against Terry Asare when the score was 1-0. Otherwise, the Palatinate, supported by thousands of fans, were very dominant and could have made the result even better.