BERLIN: RB Leipzig dominated second-tier Nurem­berg throughout their German Cup first round game on Saturday to win 3-0 for a successful start to their season.

Amadou Haidara fired in from 20 metres after a mistake by the hosts’ keeper to put last season’s Champions League semi-finalists in the driving seat in the third minute.

Leipzig were in complete control and not once in trouble until substitute Yussuf Poulsen fired in their second goal from the edge of the box in the 67th to kill off the tie. South Korean Hwang Hee-chan added a third in the 90th.

The German Cup first round kicked off on Friday with Hertha Berlin’s shock 5-4 loss to second-tier Eintracht Braunschweig, with some stadiums welcoming a few hundred fans as local health authorities allowed limited numbers of spectators back.

Fellow Bundesliga club Borussia Moenchengladbach had no trouble against fourth-tier Oberneuland, crushing them 8-0 with two goals from Patrick Herrmann and Florian Neuhaus, while Cologne eased past fourth-tier Berlin-based Altglienicke 6-0.

Vfl Wolfsburg punched their second round ticket with a 4-1 over Union Fuerstenwalde, from the north-east regional league, as did Augsburg with a 7-0 demolition of fifth-tier Eintracht Celle, while Eintracht Frankfurt labored past third-division host 1860 Munich 2-1.

Schalke 04’s game against Bavarian side Schweinfurt on Sunday was called off on Friday after Turkgucu Munich lodged a complaint. Turkgucu contend they should be playing Schalke as they were the local regional league leaders ahead of Schweinfurt when the division resumed after their pandemic-induced break.

Bavarian soccer authorities had already declared Turkgucu 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 champions Bayern Munich’s game was put back to October to give the side more time to recover after winning the Champions League on August 23.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2020