Leverkusen cruise into 2nd round, Hoffenheim beat Chemnitz

Bayer Leverkusen scored six goals in the opening 32 minutes to crush fourth tier club Norderstedt 7-0 in the German Cup first round on Sunday but fellow Bundesliga club Hoffenheim needed penalties to edge past amateurs Chemnitz.

Leverkusen, who sold attacking midfielder Kai Havertz and striker Kevin Volland in the close season, were missing none of their firepower as they scored three times in the opening 12 minutes through Lars Bender, Nadiem Amiri and Lucas Alario.

Another three goals between the 21st to the 32nd minute quickly ended proceedings at the empty BayArena stadium, after the official home team, Norderstedt, had relinquished the home advantage for this round.

New Leverkusen striker Patrick Schick, who came on as a substitute, grabbed goal number seven in the 77th to complete the rout.

Hoffenheim were in control for much of the game but had to wait until the 48th minute to take the lead through Andrej Kramaric’s tap-in.

Kevin Freiberger’s fine turn and shot from eight metres out brought the hosts level on the hour and sent the game into extra time before a Christian Bickel strike put them in the driving seat.

It was again Croatian forward Kramaric who came to the rescue, earning a penalty in the 111th and keeping his cool to grab the equaliser.

Hoffenheim keeper Oliver Baumann saved the two first penalties in the subsequent shootout and Bickel missed the target with his spot kick to give Hoffenheim coach Sebastian Hoeness a winning debut.

Earlier, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Augsburg and Cologne enjoyed huge wins over lower-league opposition to book their places in the second round of the German Cup on Saturday.

Gladbach warmed up for its Bundesliga opener against Borussia Dortmund next weekend by routing fourth-tier Oberneuland 8-0, Augsburg thrashed fifth-tier Eintracht Celle 7-0, and Cologne enjoyed a 6-0 win over fourth-tier Berlin-based Altglienicke.

All three underdogs gave up their cherished home advantage for the games after finding they could not meet the stringent conditions set by the German soccer authorities to minimize the risk of coronavirus infections.

Up to 300 supporters were allowed at each game in Mönchengladbach and Cologne, while there were none in Augsburg’s empty stadium.

Union Fürstenwalde, from the north-east regional league, also gave up its home rights and was beaten in Wolfsburg’s empty reserve stadium 4-1.

American forward Josh Sargent scored early in the second half to set Werder Bremen on its way to a 2-0 win at fouth-tier side Carl Zeiss Jena.

Leipzig had little difficulty in beating second-division Nuremberg 3-0 away, while Eintracht Frankfurt labored past third-division host 1860 Munich 2-1.

There were wins, too, for Bochum and Osnabrück at Engers and Todesfelde, respectively.

American midfielder Julian Green scored in extra time to help second-division Greuther Fürth win at fifth-tier Meinerzhagen 6-1.

Nico Schlotterbeck’s 118th-minute goal was enough for Union Berlin to beat his former team Karlsruher SC 1-0. Fourth-tier Ulm upset second-division Erzgebirge Aue 2-0. Fortuna Düsseldorf won at Ingolstadt 1-0.

schalke’s game against Bavarian side Schweinfurt on Sunday was called off on Friday after Türkgücü Munich lodged a complaint. Türkgücü contends it should be playing schalke as it was the local regional league leader ahead of Schweinfurt when the division resumed after its pandemic-induced break. Bavarian soccer authorities had already declared Türkgücü promoted to the third division for the new season, making second-placed Schweinfurt the best Bavarian amateur side at the time of registration for the cup.

Defending champion Bayern Munich’s game was put back to October to give the side more time to recover after winning the Champions League on Aug. 23.

Agencies