Thanks to a self-sacrificing fighting performance, great efficiency and also a good portion of luck, second division club Karlsruher SC won at Bayer Leverkusen and are through to the last 16 of the DFB Cup.
For Bayer Leverkusen, coach Gerardo Seoane rotated six positions compared to the 2:2 in Cologne. However, this was partly involuntary, as Bellarabi (torn muscle fibre in his right thigh) and Schick (torn ankle ligament) had to miss out due to injury, as did Alario. Kossounou, Hincapie, Demirbay and Wirtz slipped to the bench. New players: Tapsoba, Bakker, Palacios, Amiri, Adli and Paulinho.
KSC coach Christian Eichner made three changes after the 1:3 loss in Düsseldorf: Goalkeeper Gersbeck, Breithaupt and Cueto played for Kuster, Kaufmann and Lorenz (all on the bench).
Cueto shocks Werkself early on
The game started with a bang: In the 4th minute, the outsiders, who attacked Bayer with high pressing in the early stages, took the lead: Wanitzek crossed to Hofmann, whose header, deflected by Tapsoba, was blocked by Hradecky. Cueto then scored from close range – 1:0. Leverkusen responded with furious attacks. Diaby just missed with a direct shot, as did Adli, who was completely free in front of Gersbeck (10., 12.).
Karlsruhe defended passionately against the onrushing Rhinelanders, but also had other switching moments from time to time. Hofmann had an opportunity in the 29th minute. Bayer, however, remained more dangerous. Amiri missed the Karlsruhe goal, as did Adli again later (19th, 34th). Due to the lack of penetrating power of Seoane’s team, KSC’s lead remained narrow at the break.
Frimpong scores, but Hradecky misses
The opening phase of the second half was turbulent; not least because KSC again started strongly, but Bayer also continued to play forward. Wanitzek from a free kick and Gordon from a corner failed to beat Hradecky (47., 51.). On the other side, Diaby carelessly missed a two-on-one counterattack (51). A little later, however, Bayer managed to score the long-deserved 1-1: After a double pass with Adli, the agile Frimpong scored his first competitive goal for the Werkself.
After that, the game continued in a similar style as before – Leverkusen missed another chance on the edge of the box because Paulinho passed too inaccurately (60th). Shortly afterwards, KSC were lucky that a foul by Heise against Frimpong on the penalty line had no consequences. And then it happened on the opposite side: Hradecky played the ball right into Choi’s foot in his own penalty area during a build-up attempt, and the South Korean immediately obliged with the goal to make it 2-1 (64.).
Bayer miss countless great chances
What came next was a festival of chances from Bayer against the tiring Baden team. Gersbeck had to make a brilliant save against a header by his own man (Gordon) in the 72nd minute, but the Werkself then almost outdid themselves in terms of missing excellent opportunities: Adli shot over the goal with a free header, as did wild card Iker Bravo seconds later (both 78th), who became Leverkusen’s youngest ever professional at the age of 16 years, nine months and 15 days. In injury time, Adli and Andrich missed again in a duet (90.+1), before Iker Bravo again missed from a good position at the final whistle (90.+5).
This was enough for KSC, who advanced at the last minute and will be able to watch the draw for the DFB Cup round of 16 on Sunday, hours before the Karlsruhe team has to play Paderborn in League Two (1.30 p.m.). In the Bundesliga, Leverkusen play VfL Wolfsburg the day before (3.30pm), who are making their first start under new coach Florian Kohfeldt.
