DFB-Pokal 2nd round round-up: Leverkusen, Monchengladbach & Schalke 04 are through

Bayer Leverkusen 4-1 FC Union Berlin

FC Union Berlin came to Leverkusen with the right intensions and gave a good account of themselves in the opening stages: With Leverkusen knocking at the door, the visitors held out well. It took a stroke of genius from Julian Brandt to break the deadlock; the Germany international left three defenders for dead at the edge of the area before finishing clinically.

Leverkusen were caught napping at the start of the second half, and Dennis Daube finished off a nice bit of play from the capital city boys for the equaliser. The Bundesliga side regrouped and soon came up with the right response: Lucas Alario put the favourites back in front with his first DFB-Pokal goal. With just one minute of regulation time left to play, Wendell put the game to bed from the spot before Aranguiz rubbed salt in the wounds of Union Berlin with an inch-perfect free-kick in stoppage time.

Fortuna Düsseldorf 0-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach

In a sold-out ESPRIT arena, Borussia Mönchengladbach attempted to take control of the derby with a possession game. The first big chance fell to the Bundesliga side as well, but Lars Stindl was stopped in his tracks by Robin Bormuth at the last second. As the first half went on, Fortuna Düsseldorf became more and more comfortable, then eventually more dangerous than the opposition, posing a particular threat on the counter.

The first and only goal of the game came in the second half, when Thorgan Hazard showed great resilience to get his shot away and was rewarded with a stroke of luck to see the ball deflect off the goalkeeper and in. Düsseldorf remained under pressure for most of the game, but were thrown a lifeline in the 73rd minute in the shape of a penalty, with which Niko Gießelmann could only strike the post.

Paderborn 2-0 Bochum

SC Paderborn celebrated a well-deserved victory over Bundesliga 2 side VfL Bochum on Tuesday night. The league 3 table toppers took the lead early through Sven Michel and managed to keep Bochum out for the rest of the game. The visitors missed a penalty in the closing stages, and soon after Massih Wassey doubled Paderborn’s lead, taking them to the Last 16 of the DFB-Pokal for the first time in 13 years.

Wehen Wiesbaden 1-3 Schalke 04

Schalke experienced no difficulties whatsoever in their game away to Wehen Wiesbaden. Despite being without in-form goalscorer Leon Goretzka, the Royal Blues put in a convincing performance. Franco Di Santo got his first goal of the season with a true centre-forward header into the ground to make it 1-0. Guido Burgstaller soon followed up with his third goal in as many games, making the half-time score 2-0 to the Bundesliga visitors.

The third-division side were unfortunate to go 3-0 down through an own goal just eight minutes after the restart, but they got their consolation with 15 minutes left to play: David Blacha with the goal for the hosts.

1.FC Magdeburg 0-5 Borussia Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund took longer than most expected to get going away to third-tier 1. FC Magdeburg. Maximilian Philipp struck the post in the third minute, but the reigning champions failed to pose a real threat for quite some time after. The turning point, strangely enough, was when Germany U21 international Mahmoud Dahoud had to be taken off injured and Gonzalo Castro came on in his place and scored with his very first touch 35 seconds later. Dortmund went in at half time with a narrow lead over the underdogs.