Hamburg stunned by minnows

berlin — Top-flight Hamburg were sensationally knocked out of the German Cup in the first round late on Sunday, suffering a 3-1 defeat to third division side Osnabrueck.

Hamburg’s misery was compounded by the fact that Osnabrueck played most of the game with 10 men, after defender Marcel Appiah was sent off on 19 minutes.

After taking the lead through Halil Savran five minutes before half-time, the underdogs struck again through Marc Heider on the counter-attack.

Disastrous defending from Hamburg then allowed Ahmet Arslan to add a third in the 71st minute. Though Bobby Wood pulled a goal back from the penalty spot, it was too little too late for Hamburg.

“We have to be very self-critical,” Hamburg sporting director Jens Todt told Sky.

Another Bundesliga side fell to third division opposition later in the day, as late goals from Christian Beck and Tobias Schwede saw Magdeburg beat Augsburg.

Stuttgart avoided a similar fate by the skin of their teeth, coming back from 2-0 down against fourth tier Energie Cottbus to eventually win on penalties.

RB Leipzig had an easier afternoon, reaching the second round with a 5-0 win against sixth-tier Dorfmerkingen.

Goals at the beginning of each half from Marcel Sabitzer gave Leipzig a 2-0 lead, before Timo Werner, Yussuf Poulsen and Naby Keita added three more in quick succession.

Hanover survived an early scare to beat fourth-tier SC Bonn.

Fourth-tier Schweinfurt provided a further upset, knocking out second division SV Sandhausen with a 2-1 victory. —