Borussia Dortmund bounced back after slumping to their fourth straight Bundesliga defeat against Hannover 96 at the weekend, cruising past second-tier St Pauli 1910 eV 3-0 on Tuesday to reach the third round of the DFB Pokal, or German Cup.
Ciro Immobile, under fire for his lack of goals this season, tapped the visitors in front after 33 minutes, before Marco Reus rifled in the second goal after a cut-back by the Italian a minute before the break.
Apart from two early chances for the hosts, the second half was a subdued affair, with Dortmund focused on holding on to their lead rather than adding to their goal tally.
Photo: EPA
Nevertheless, they made it 3-0 when a bad clearance by goalkeeper Philipp Tschauner fell straight to Shinji Kagawa and the Japanese striker made no mistake as he gave his side a boost of self-belief ahead of Saturday’s league game against champions Bayern Munich.
“It was important to advance after the few weeks we have had,” Dortmund captain Mats Hummels told ARD television. “It is a matter of confidence for us, but we can get it back.”
Dortmund, last season’s Bundesliga and Cup runners-up, have lost six of nine games to slide to fourth from bottom in the league tables.
As Dortmund rebounded, the team that beat them at the weekend were handed a surprise defeat at relegation-threatened second-tier club VfR Aalen. Hannover lost 2-0 to the second-tier after an own-goal from Ceyhun Gulselam gave the home side a 24th-minute lead, before Michael Klauss made it 2-0 in the 59th.
Hertha BSC fared even worse, crashing to third-tier Arminia Bielefeld 4-2 on penalties after a goalless 120 minutes. Bielefeld goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow was the hero of the night, making two saves to seal the win.
Fellow Bundesliga side Werder Bremen had a much better outing, as coach Viktor Skripnik made a winning start at the helm of die Grun-Weisen as they beat third-tier Chemnitz 2-0.
Ukrainian Skripnik replaced the sacked Robin Dutt on Saturday, with the former champions anchored in last place in the league.
Fin Bartels put Bremen ahead in the first half and Franco di Santo drilled in the second goal after a fine through-ball from Clemens Fritz after the interval.
Cologne had better luck than Hertha from the spot, beating third-division MSV Duisburg 4-1 on penalties after Timo Horn saved two. The win was a relief for the Bundesliga side after they had Slawomir Peszko sent off in the second half for kicking at an opponent and failed to produce a goal extra-time.
Meanwhile, fourth-tier side Kickers Offenbach caused another upset by defeating second-division Karlsruher SC 1-0 thanks to Benjamin Pintol’s 63rd-minute strike, while second-tier VfL Bochum lost 2-1 were also downed in an upset by third-division SG Dynamo Dresden after extra-time. Dresden’s Justin Eilers scored both of his side’s goals.
In the remaining match, FCK Kaiserslautern beat second-division rivals SpVgg Greuther Fuerth 2-0.
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