Reus returns as BVB progress; Stuttgart crash out
Cologne - Marco Reus captained Borussia Dortmund on his long-awaited return to action as BVB eased past Stuttgarter Kickers in the DFB Cup first round.
Stuttgarter Kickers 1-4 Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hannover 96, Hertha Berlin and 1. FC Köln will join Dortmund in the draw for the next round after recording comfortable wins against lower league opposition, but VfB Stuttgart followed 1. FSV Mainz 05 out of the competition after losing to VfL Bochum.
bundesliga.com provides a round-up of Saturday's first round results involving Bundesliga sides...
Borussia Dortmund picked up from where they had left off in the Supercup on Wednesday night with a 4-1 win over Stuttgarter Kickers. Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (2) and Adrian Ramos scored the goals for the 2012 DFB Cup winners.
There was a pleasing sight for Dortmund fans with Marco Reus and Neven Subotic featuring in the starting XI for the first time in several months. Reus showed he has fully recovered from the ankle injury which kept him out of the 2014 World Cup with an enterprising performance, but it was the hosts who had threatened to take the lead before Dortmund struck.
Mkhitaryan added to his Supercup strike with a well-placed shot from Lukasz Piszczek's cross, silencing the home fans inside the Mercedes-Benz-Arena. The Kickers started the second half brightly too, but just like in the first, they conceded against the run of play, Aubameyang intercepting a short backpass before beating home keeper Mark-Patrick Redl.
The hosts pulled a goal back through Randy Edwini-Bonsu, but Aubameyang soon added his third goal this week before Ramos opened his Dortmund account at the death to seal victory for Jürgen Klopp's charges.
FC 08 Homburg 1-3 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Borussia Mönchengladbach recorded a comfortable 3-1 victory over FC Homburg to reach round two of the DFB Cup for the first time since 2012.
Summer signing Andre Hahn gave the Foals the lead after just eight minutes in Saarland, volleying home with his left foot after Homburg had failed to clear a corner. The hosts weren't behind for long, as Tim Stegerer latched onto Adrian Gallego's pass to restore parity just 20 minutes later. Gladbach regained the lead just before the break, though, Branimir Hrgota slipping the ball past Andreas Gäbler in stoppage time.
Hrgota bagged his second of the match soon after the restart thanks to a mistake by Emil Noll inside the Homburg half and, although Lucien Favre's side failed to add to their tally, the Swiss head coach will be happy with his charges' convincing display against the fourth-tier side.
VfL Bochum 1848 2-0 VfB Stuttgart
Bundesliga 2 front runners VfL Bochum spoiled Armin Veh's return to the VfB Stuttgart hotseat with a 2-0 win over the Swabians.
Simon Terodde was on target twice for Bochum, who have remained unbeaten in their first two second-tier games of the season. The first came after just nine minutes when Stuttgart's new recruit Oriol Romeu gave away possession on the edge of his own area, allowing Terodde to dribble through before providing the finish past Sven Ulreich.
Just three minutes had been played in the second half when Terodde struck again, beating Ulreich again with another smart finish, his fifth goal of the campaign. Stuttgart failed to muster a response against Peter Neururer's men, leaving Veh plenty to ponder ahead of their Bundesliga opener next weekend.
FC Viktoria Köln 2-4 Hertha Berlin
Hertha Berlin survived a second-half scare to beat FC Viktoria Köln 4-2 and book their place in the next round of the tournament.
The capital city side struggled early on against their fourth-tier opponents, but took the lead in some style, Brazilian Ronny thundering a 20-yard strike in off the crossbar after 34 minutes. Hertha then doubled their lead with half-time approaching, Roy Beerens capitalising on an error by Nico Pellatz before lobbing the Viktoria keeper from close range.
Japanese newcomer Genki Haraguchi finished off a swift counter-attack to put Hertha further ahead seven minutes after the restart, but the hosts pulled a goal back when Mike Wunderlich curled home a fine effort soon after. Fatih Candan scored Viktoria's second midway through the second half as Claus-Dieter Wollitz's side threatened to mount a memorable comeback, but former Borussia Dortmund striker Julian Schieber sealed Hertha's place in the next round with 14 minutes remaining.
FC Astoria Walldorf 1-3 Hannover 96
Hannover 96 had to work hard for a 3-1 win at FC Astoria Walldorf, playing much of the game with only ten men after Marcelo's red card.
Joselu opened his account with the first goal on 29 minutes, but Marcelo's professional foul saw him sent for an early bath five minutes before the interval. That put the ball in Walldorf's court, and they built up a head of steam, levelling just shy of the hour mark.
Nico Hillenbrand bundled the ball in from Manuel Kaufmann's header to equalise, and the Regional League side almost took the lead before Lars Stindl settled Hannover's nerves, placing his shot to perfection into the top right-hand corner.
Walldorf's belief was shattered and Joselu added a third ten minutes from the end with a low shot into the bottom corner, giving Tayfun Korkut's men a winning start to the season, and a place in the second round of the DFB Cup.
FT Braunschweig 0-4 1. FC Köln
Second-half goals from Anthony Ujah (2), Matthias Lehmann and Simon Zoller earned 1. FC Köln a 4-0 victory over FT Braunschweig.
The fourth-tier outfit restricted the Billy Goats to efforts from long range in the first 45 minutes, with Ujah and Jonas Hector both guilty of squandering half-chances from the edge of the penalty area. Köln keeper Timo Horn, meanwhile, had little to do during the first period in Lower Saxony.
Ujah redeemed himself for his earlier misses with a quick-fire double after the restart. The Nigerian striker found his mark 50 seconds into the half to give the visitors the lead, before escaping the attentions of Marco Behrens to fire home from ten yards out for his second of the afternoon. Lehmann lobbed keeper Daniel Reck from the edge of the box to put Köln further ahead, before Zoller put the result beyond doubt with three minutes remaining.
FK Viktoria 1889 Berlin 0–2 Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt booked their place in the second round of the DFB Cup thanks to a 2-0 win over regional outfit FK Viktoria 1889 Berlin.
Summer recruit Haris Seferovic needed just nine minutes to open his account for his new club, pouncing on a mistake by Berlin defender Murat Doymus and sticking away the opening goal with consummate ease.
Loan signing Lucas Piazon spurned the most presentable opportunity to extend the Eagles’ advantage, before veteran forward Alexander Meier stepped off the bench to put an end to any lingering Viktoria hopes deep into added time.
