BERLIN: Bundesliga club Werder Bremen narrowly avoided a fifth successive elimination by a third-tier club in the German Cup on Saturday after scoring twice in extra time to overcome Wuerzburger Kickers 2-0 and move into the second round.

Holders VfL Wolfsburg kicked off their title defence with a trouble-free 4-1 victory over Stuttgarter Kickers with goals from Max Kruse, Bas Dost, Kevin De Bruyne and Nicklas Bendtner while fellow top tier clubs Schalke 04 and Bayer Leverkusen also advanced.

Werder’s new signing, striker Anthony Ujah, rescued the northern club when he fired in from the right in the first half of extra-time with Fin Bartels sealing their win in the 108th minute.

Werder had been eliminated in the past four editions by clubs two divisions below them, three times in the first round of the competition.

Wolfsburg strikers Kruse and Dost scored in the first half, and Kevin de Bruyne made it 3-0 two minutes into the second. Striker Lhadji Badiane pulled one back for the Kickers in the 79th, before Nicklas Bendtner completed the scoring.

Schalke routed second-division local rivals Duisburg 5-0, and Leverkusen won 3-0 at fourth-tier Sportfreunde Lotte.

Klaas Jan Huntelaar got Schalke off the mark before the 2011 title winners’ task was made easier with the sending off of Duisburg captain Branimir Bajic midway through the half.

Michael Ratajczak saved the resulting penalty from Franco Di Santo, but goals from Matija Nastasic and Johannes Geis put Schalke 3-0 up at the break. Di Santo scored with a fine volley, and Leon Goretzka wrapped it up in the 85th.

Leverkusen won thanks to Stefan Kiessling’s 15th-minute strike, and second-half penalties from Hakan Calhanoglu and Lars Bender.

Eintracht Frankfurt defeated fifth-tier Bremer SV 3-0, while Cologne won 4-0 at fourth-tier side Meppen, who saw their goalkeeper sent off in the first half.

Hoffenheim became the first top-division side to be knocked out in the opening round, losing 2-0 at second-division 1860 Munich. Midfielder Daylon Claasen struck in the 51st, and striker Fejsal Mulic sealed 1860’s deserved win in injury time.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2015

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