Two-time cup winners RB Leipzig reached the next round of the DFB Cup without much trouble, winning safely at third-division side Rot-Weiss Essen. The Champions League participants won the game at the traditional club on Hafenstrasse 4:1 (2:1) in front of 17,000 spectators.
The goals for the visitors were scored by Benjamin Sesko (12th minute), Lois Openda (40th), new signing Antonio Nusa (84th) and Xavi Simons (88th). Ramien Safi had given RWE a 1:0 lead in the 2nd minute. The hosts were thus eliminated for the seventh time in their last eight first-round matches. As in the previous year, Leipzig made it through to the second round.
First, however, the visitors were caught out cold. The hosts' first attack down the left led to 1:0 through the speedy Safi, who, after a perfect pass from Torben Müsel, hit the inside of the post with a shot into the far corner, from where the ball bounced into the goal. The RWE fans celebrated the goal after less than two minutes against the clear favourites.
Leipzig quickly recovered from the deficit
The team of coach Marco Rose, who did without new signings in his starting line-up, quickly found their rhythm and equalized ten minutes later through Sesko, whose header from Amadou Haidara's cross led to the equalizer.
Openda stayed focused before the break after a pass from Sesko and slid the ball past RWE keeper Jakob Golz to make it 2-1, who then prevented further goals with some remarkable saves. New signing Nusa, who made it 3:1 just seconds after coming on as a substitute, and Simons made it 4:1 to finally decide the game.
Essen's cup sensation thus failed to materialize. RWE had already tripped up many a favorite at Hafenstrasse or taken them to extra time and a penalty shoot-out. Three years ago, reigning German champions Bayer Leverkusen were eliminated in Essen in the round of 16.
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