Wolfsburg, Stuttgart and Bremen a round further – Essen shocks Düsseldorf
The Stuttgart players cheer with goal scorer Sasa Kalajdzic (middle) after the goal to 1-0, which meant the victory
© Marijan Murat / DPA
Rot-Weiss Essen was the only fourth division team to make it into the round of 16 of the DFB Cup and disgraced Fortuna Düsseldorf with a 3-2 win. In addition, VfB Stuttgart won the only Bundesliga duel on Wednesday.
Rot-Weiss Essen managed a surprise in the DFB Cup. At the end of the year, the regional soccer team defeated the second division Fortuna Düsseldorf 3: 2 (2: 1) and is thus back in the round of 16 for the first time in twelve years.
The Bundesliga clubs VfL Wolfsburg, VfB Stuttgart and Werder Bremen also made it into the third round on Wednesday evening. In the only Bundesliga duel, VfB Stuttgart won 1-0 (1-0) against SC Freiburg. Wolfsburg won 4-0 (3-0) at home against SV Sandhausen and Bremen had no problems in the 3-0 (2-0) away win at Hannover 96.
Heated game between Stuttgart and Freiburg
Fortuna, which had also failed in the quarter-finals of the preseason against a fourth division team, acted superior in Essen. However, a brace from Rouwen Hennings (36th minute / 87th), who scored his second goal from a penalty, was not enough for Uwe Rösler’s team. Simon Engelmann used a mistake by substitute keeper Raphael Wolf to make it 1-0 for RWE (15th). Before the break, Marco Kehl-Gomez brought the home side back into the lead (39th) and in the 70th minute Oguzhan Kefkir made the preliminary decision in favor of Essen.
In Stuttgart, Sasa Kalajdzic decided the Baden-Württemberg derby against SC Freiburg (15th). The guests increased after a rough start, but in a heated game the Swabians finally showed better nerves. The Breisgauer suffered a defeat after three competitive games in a row, although they had some good opportunities in the final phase.
The Bundesliga fourth Wolfsburg won much more clearly. Yannick Gerhardt (27th), Wout Weghorst (30th / 90th +1) and Joao Victor (41st) brought the wolves, who were battered by personnel, onto the winning road. At the troubled SVS, who had no chance, captain Dennis Diekmeier had to pass due to muscular problems immediately before kick-off.
Werder Bremen have no problems with Hannover 96
In another duel between a first and a second division club, the favored Bremen team benefited from a double strike in the first half. Theodor Gebre Selassie (30th) and Josh Sargent (32nd) met. Jean-Manuel Mbom made everything clear after an hour.
The first division clubs Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, FC Schalke 04, Borussia Mönchengladbach and 1. FC Köln had already made it through on Tuesday. From the 2nd league, SC Paderborn, SpVgg Greuther Fürth and SC Darmstadt 98 are one round ahead. The second round will be completed with the games Bayer Leverkusen against Eintracht Frankfurt on January 12th and Holstein Kiel against defending champions Bayern Munich one day later.
The cup round of 16 will then be played on February 2nd and 3rd. The draw will take place on January 3rd during the ARD “Sportschau”. Losfee is the former ski jumper Sven Hannawald.
