In Monday night’s DFB Pokal matches there were some very tight games but ultimately expected outcomes with all three Bundesliga sides plus Darmstadt going through to the second round draw.
In particular Union Berlin’s game at 3. Liga Chemnitz was a highly engaging match at the 15,000 capacity Stadion an der Gellertstraße, between the third and second tier clubs from the Eastern part of Germany.
Level at half-time, Christian Tiffert’s side took the lead through Tobias Müller before Union’s Jordan Siebatcheu levelled two minutes later.
With the scores level after 90 minutes in an entrenched match, it took an outstanding strike by veteran centre-forward Kevin Behrens in the 114th minute to finally break the deadlock in favour of the red and whites.
Third-tier Chemnitz, who won the 1967 East German title under the former name of FC Karl Marx Stadt, were dominant through large parts of the game and can count themselves unlucky not to be going through.
Union in contrast ultimately were unconvincing and will need to regroup for Saturday’s Berlin derby against Hertha BSC.
Werder Bremen overcome Energie Cottbus
A strike by Austrian midfielder Romano Schmid just before the half time whistle gave Werder the edge going into the second half in front of a near capacity 20,000 crowd at the Stadion der Freundschaft.
In spite of Cottbus pushing hard for the equalizer, Werder went 2-0 through Mitchell Weiser’s right-footed goal with the assist coming from former Borussia Dortmund striker Marvin Ducksch.
Energie pulled one back in the through the efforts of 22-year-old Tim Heike but after 90 minutes in spite of a spirited effort by ‘Die Lausitzer’ the Bundesliga side’s win never looked in doubt.
Energie Cottbus coach Claus-Dieter Wollitz can take away a lot of positives from the performance by his fourth-tier team against Bundesliga opposition.
Magdeburg outclassed by Eintracht Frankfurt
Magdeburg were almost completely extinguished by a dominant Eintracht side who made Christian Titz’s side look a shadow of the side that put five by Osnabrück on the last day of the 2021 3. Liga.
Frankfurt went ahead after just four minutes through a Daichi Kamada goal that came off West Ham target striker Filip Kostic.
Magdeburg pushed hard for the equaliser, but their efforts went unrewarded when Denmark international Jesper Lindstrøm, who had a great match, added a second one for the Eintracht in minute 32.
After the half time break the East German side were 3-0 down after Kamada scored his second for a brace on the hour mark.
The 2021/22 3. Liga champions never got back into the game with new arrival who joined this summer from Bayer Leverkusen Lucas Alario sealing the humiliating win with a fourth goal in the 90th minute.
Magdeburg took a 3-2 away win at Karlsruher SC into the game and might have coach Titz brought Bundesliga experience to the match and set the Magdeburg team up were but on the night the gulf between the two sides became apparent very early on and Eintracht simply outclassed the black and blue team on the night.
Darmstadt rewarded for class performance at the Audi Sport Park
In the late kick off Darmstadt featured new centre-back Christoph Zimmermann who joined from Norwich City earlier in the month for his first full match for ‘Die Lillien’ at the Audi Sport Park.
Former Bundesliga-side Darmstadt had 26 shots on targets compared to the 3. Liga side’s eight with Darmstadt also having 63% of the possession.
The goals in this largely one-sided match fell in the 15th minute through a low left-footed shot by 25-year-old Phiipp Tietz. The lead was added to following a penalty awarded to the Darmstadt team, which was taken by the veteran Thomas Kempe minutes before the half time whistle.
Ingolstadt who were better on the night that the result suggests pushed to get pull one back after the second half, but their resistance was finally broken in the 84th minute with a left-footed shot by Denmark’s Magnus Warming.
Torsten Lieberknecht can be satisfied with his team’s performance whilst Ingolstadt will need something to lift them up for their fixture in Dortmund on Sunday.
One surprise on the night however was the attendance the game at the Audi Sport Park only attracted 5,000 fans turned for the third vs second tier cup tie.
The outstanding first round DFB Pokal fixtures are (all times CET):
- Teutonia Ottensen v RB Leipzig, Monday 30 August (20:46)
- Viktoria Köln vs Bayern Munich both, Tuesday 31 August (20:46)
Darmstadt, Werder Bremen and Eintracht Frankfurt join the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Stuttgart and Hamburg who all advance to the next round. The draw for the second round of the DFB Pokal will take place on Sunday 4 September.
