LEIPZIG, Germany — In a stunning turn of events, the top teams in the Bundesliga have faced unexpected defeats in the German Cup, as Eintracht Frankfurt joined Bayern Munich in exiting the competition unexpectedly on Wednesday.
Frankfurt suffered a 3-0 loss to Leipzig, bringing an end to a disappointing patch in which they had failed to win any of their last six matches, managing to lose five of them. Just a day prior, Bayern Munich encountered a similar fate, falling 1-0 at home to defending champions Bayer Leverkusen in their third-round match.
The scoring for Leipzig began in the 32nd minute, thanks to a well-placed shot by Benjamin Sesko, who was assisted by Antonio Nusa. In the second half, Loïs Openda added to Leipzig’s lead with two goals, both of which were also setup by Nusa.
Meanwhile, Augsburg managed to secure their spot in the quarterfinals with a dramatic victory over second-tier Karlsruher, triumphing 5-4 in a penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw in regular time. Augsburg appeared on the brink of elimination until Rubén Vargas scored a crucial equalizer in stoppage time during extra time.
Despite an early penalty miss by Marvin Wanitzek for Karlsruher, he redeemed himself by scoring the first penalty in the shootout. All players converted their penalties until Robin Heußer of Karlsruher had his saved by Finn Dahmen, allowing Maximilian Bauer to score the winner for Augsburg and secure their advancement.
Wolfsburg also made an impressive move into the quarterfinals with a commanding 3-0 victory over Hoffenheim, who have been struggling in the Bundesliga.
In an all-second-division affair, Cologne clinched a narrow 2-1 victory against Hertha Berlin, which played most of the match with just 10 players after Deyovaisio Zeefuik was sent off in the 25th minute for a violent headbutt on Timo Hübers. Despite being down a player, Hertha managed to score first but Cologne quickly leveled the score just five minutes later.
With the visitors determined to hold onto their lead, Cologne secured the win in the dying moments of the match by converting a penalty after Florian Kainz was fouled by Gustav Christensen, with Dejan Ljubi?i? successfully taking the penalty shot.
