Little-known Lotte edge past Leverkusen in German Cup
berlin — Bayer Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt was helpless to intervene on Tuesday as his side slumped a 4-3 defeat on penalties at third-division Sportfreunde Lotte in the second round of the German Cup.
Schmidt was watching TV coverage on a tablet from the team bus as Lotte goalkeeper Benedikt Fernandez saved Julian Baumgartlinger’s spot kick and then Luka Tankulic fired the home side, which had played 40 minutes with 10 men, into the third round.
The 49-year-old Leverkusen coach was serving the first of his two-game ban for shouting an insult at Hoffenheim counterpart Julian Nagelsmann during their sides’ Bundesliga game on Saturday. The final two games of a previous fivegame ban that Schmidt was given in February for another pitch-side offense had been suspended.
Kevin Volland opened the scoring with his first Leverkusen goal midway through the first half, only for the home side to draw level through Roberto Hilbert’s own goal after the break.
Leverkusen was given a boost with over 10 minutes of normal time remaining when Lotte defender Tim Wendel was sent off for a second yellow card, but the visitors were unable to make it count until early in extra time, when Volland grabbed his second.
Lotte, which upset Werder Bremen in the first round, equalized 10 minutes later through Kevin Freiberger on a counterattack to force the penalty shoot-out.
Volland and Charles Aranguiz both missed for Leverkusen, while Lotte only got going at the third attempt. There were no mistakes after that until Fernandez proved the hero, injuring himself in the process. Bundesliga sides Hertha Berlin, Hamburger SV and Borussia Moenchengladbach had no prob-
Borussia Moenchengladbach’s Tony Jantschke fires a shot at the goal against VfB Stuttgart during a German Cup match. —
lems against lower-league opposition later.
In another penalty shoot-out, 1860 Munich defeated second-division rival Wuerzburger Kickers 4-3 after their game ended scoreless. Japan midfielder Makoto Hasebe fired Frankfurt into the next round with the decisive spot kick in the penalty shootout.
The home side needed only four penalty-takers with the visitors missing two.
Frankfurt played extra time with a player less after Marco Fabian was shown his second yellow card late in normal time.
Second-division Sandhausen caused another upset in knocking
Results
Lotte 2 Leverkusen Lotte win 4-3 on penalties D Dresden 0 A Bielefeld W Kickers 0 1860 Munich 1860 Munich win 4-3 on penalties Freiburg 3 Sandhausen Sandhausen win 4-3 on penalties Hallescher 0 Hamburg Frankfurt 0 Ingolstadt Frankfurt win 4-1 on penalties M’gladbach 2 VfB Stuttgart St Pauli 0 Hertha Berlin 2 1 0 3 4 0 0 2 out Bundesliga side Freiburg, which needed a questionable penalty to force the game into extra time. Nils Petersen scored from the spot to level it at 3-3 after referee Tobias Stieler awarded the home side a penalty when Sandhausen defender Philipp Klingmann tumbled with Janik Haberer. If anything, it was the Freiburg midfielder who committed the foul. Haberer went on to miss the decisive spot kick as the underdogs triumphed.
Bottom of the Bundesliga, Hamburg took out its league frustrations at third-division Hallescher FC, with Bobby Wood grabbing two goals for the visitors in the first half.
Wood had also scored both of Hamburg’s two league goals, but fears of an overreliance on the American forward were eased when Pierre-Michel Lasogga scored before the hour-mark and Luca Waldschmidt wrapped it up late within a minute of coming on as a substitute. In-form Mitchell Weiser led Hertha, which has made its best ever start in the Bundesliga, to a comfortable win at second-division St. Pauli, scoring before the break and then displaying great technique to set up Valentin Stocker after it.
Lars Stindl sealed ‘Gladbach’s progress with a late goal against spirited second-division opponent Stuttgart. United States midfielder Fabian Johnson opened the scoring on a brilliant counterattack in the 32nd. Andre Hahn’s back-heel set up Johnson’s second goal of the season. —