Berlin: Leipzig were eliminated in the second round of the German Cup, ending their hopes of a third consecutive title, as Vaclav Cerny’s first-half goal secured Wolfsburg’s place in the last 16 on Tuesday.
Wolfsburg made a promising start. Within the first 24 seconds, Tiago Tomas almost found the net after Mattias Svanberg intercepted a pass from Leipzig’s David Raum, reports Xinhua.
New summer signing Cerny, however, capitalized on a through ball from Tomas and shot it into the roof of the net, recording his first goal for the Wolves only 14 minutes into the match.
While Leipzig maintained more ball possession, they struggled to penetrate Wolfsburg’s defense. The hosts nearly doubled their lead 10 minutes later, but Cerny’s shot was timely blocked by Castello Lukeba.
Leipzig’s first notable attempt came after the interval when Raum’s deflected cross hit the left crossbar just two minutes into the second half.
The tide seemed to turn in Leipzig’s favor, but their momentum was halted when striker Yussuf Poulsen was sent off, receiving his second yellow card of the night in the 56th minute.
Despite being down to 10 men, Marco Rose’s team couldn’t capitalize on opportunities, allowing the hosts to maintain their slim lead till the end.
“Being one goal down and getting a dismissal on top doesn’t make things easier on the road. I think we played well even though we were outnumbered. It is unnecessary to crash out like this, especially because Wolfsburg never dominated,” said Rose.
“It was a typical German Cup battle. Leipzig is a tough opponent. It wasn’t easy for us. We had to keep the defense tight and prevented Leipzig from creating chances,” said Wolfsburg coach Niko Kovac.
In other matches, Stuttgart progressed to the next round following Deniz Undav’s 1-0 match-winner, handing struggling Union Berlin their 11th consecutive loss. Meanwhile, Jordan Siebatcheu’s two goals propelled Borussia Monchengladbach to a comfortable 3-1 victory over Heidenheim, and second-division side Kaiserslautern pulled off an upset, defeating Cologne 3-2.
–IANS