HAMBURG STUNNED IN CUP

TOP-FLIGHT Hamburg were sensationally knocked out of the German Cup in the first round yesterday, 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 a smash-and-grab goal from Halil Savran five minutes before halftime, the underdogs struck again through Marc Heider on the counterattack with an hour played. 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. Elsewhere, Greuther Fuerth and Bochm beat lower league opposition, while Union Berlin secured a 2-1 victory over Saarbruecken in extratime. A late penalty saw FC Ingolstadt beat local rivals 1860 Munich, and Wolfsburg laboured to 1-0 win against Norderstedt.