Bundesliga
Poulsen brace sends Leipzig through
Yussuf Poulsen scored twice as DFB Cup holders RB Leipzig booked their place in the last 16 with a comfortable 4-0 win over Bundesliga 2's Hamburg.
RB Leipzig 4-0 Hamburg
Goals: 1-0 Poulsen 34' (assist: Simakan 34'), 2-0 Poulsen 37' (assist: Silva), 3-0 Simakan 69' (assist: Forsberg), 4-0 Henrichs 82' (assist: Schlager)
Without respective talismen Christopher Nkunku and Robert Glatzel, Leipzig and Hamburg had their feelers out until the 19th minute, when Miro Muheim smashed a fierce volley against the woodwork. That sparked Leipzig into life as Benjamin Henrichs tested Daniel Heuer Fernandes, shortly before Mohamed Simakan crossed from the right for Poulsen to tap in the opening goal from close range. The Denmark international needed just three minutes to add a second in a near carbon copy of his first, albeit with Andre Silva the provider.
Leipzig attempted to press home their advantage after the restart as Emil Forsberg curled in a shot that Heuer Fernandes did well to keep out. The HSV No.1 then pulled off a miraculous point-blank save to prevent Poulsen completing his hat-trick following good work by substitute Hugo Novoa. Die Roten Bullen shifted up a gear in the closing stages, with Simakan glancing in a Forsberg corner for 3-0. The coup de grâce came by way of a breakaway goal involving substitute Xaver Schlager, who set up Henrichs for an arrowed finish into the bottom corner.
Match stats
- Poulsen scored in a competitive game for the first time since 23 April 2022.
- Forsberg has scored or assisted in three straight matches in all competitions.
- Leipzig have won six of eight home matches this season (D1, L1).
- The holders have reached the final three times in the last four years, but have also gone out at this stage three times in their 10 previous DFB Cup campaigns.
- HSV won the last of their three DFB Cup titles back in 1986/87, with semi-final exits to Freiburg last year and Leipzig in 2018/19 their best runs in the last decade.
- The home team has never won in five renditions of this fixture (four Leipzig victories, one for HSV, and one draw).
Teams
Leipzig: Blaswich - Simakan (Schlager 71') Orban (c) (Gvardiol 46'), Diallo - Henrichs, Kampl, Raum - Szoboszlai (Novoa 60'), Forsberg (Ba 83') - Poulsen, Silva
Unused subs: Nyland, Haidara
Out: Gulacsi (knee), Halstenberg (suspended), Klostermann (ankle), Laimer (ankle), Nkunku (wrist), Olmo (knee), Werner (illness)
Coach: Marco Rose
Hamburg: Heuer Fernandes - Heyer (Mikelbrencis 74'), Vuskovic, David, Muheim - Reis (Krahn 74'), Meffert (c), Suhonen - Jatta (Amaechi 68'), Königsdörffer (Bilbija 74'), Dompe (Kittel 60')
Unused subs: Raab, Andresen, Schonlau, Zumberi
Out: Glatzel (knock), Heil (foot), Leibold (muscular), Megeed (metatarsal)
Coach: Tim Walter
As it happened
4 - 0(2 - 0)
Leipzig
FINAL
Hamburg
87'
vs
LEIPZIG WANT MORE
The youngsters who have come off the bench, Ba and Novoa, are keen to show what they can do and are harrying the HSV defenders high up the pitch, even though the outcome of this game has long been decided.
83'
vs
Sanoussy Ba
Emil Forsberg
83'
vs
ICING ON THE CAKE
This is a lovely counter-attack from Leipzig. Poulsen wins the ball in midfield and finds Forsberg, who in turn releases Schlager. The Austrian is allowed to run at the HSV back line before drawing a defender towards him and sliding a pass into the run of Henrichs to his left. The Germany international smacks a low drive into the far corner. Textbook stuff.
77'
vs
FOOT OFF THE GAS
It's a matter of finding the balance now for Leipzig. They raced to a 3-0 lead against Hertha Berlin at the weekend before easing off too much and allowing Hertha to score twice and get a foothold in the game. They've gone down a couple of gears since making it 3-0 here, happy to run the clock down and sit deeper, letting HSV come at them. Will history repeat itself today or have Leipzig learned their lessons from Saturday?
74'
vs
Filip Bilbija
Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer
74'
vs
Elijah Krahn
Ludovit Reis
74'
vs
William Mikelbrencis
Moritz Heyer
71'
vs
Xaver Schlager
Mohamed Simakan
70'
vs
SIMAKAN MAKES IT THREE!
That's game over, surely. Forsberg whips in a devilish corner from the left, which is met at the near corner six-yard box by Simakan, who sends a looping header in at the back post!
68'
vs
BAD NEWS FOR HSV
Jatta limps off grimacing in pain with an injury. On comes Amaechi in his place.
68'
vs
Xavier Amaechi
Bakery Jatta
65'
vs
UNREAL SAVE FROM HEUER FERNANDES!
How did he keep this out? Poulsen looks certain to score his hat-trick after Novoa whips a ball across the face of goal, teeing up the Danish forward for another close-range finish. Only this time, Heuer Fernandes gets a hand to it to make a brilliant point-blank stop.
61'
vs
COUPLE OF CHANGES
Leipzig take of Szoboszlai, and HSV will be relieved to see the back of him. Youngster Novoa is given a chance to show what he can do. For HSV, playmaker in chief Kittel comes off the bench for Dompe, who is still working his way back to full fitness following injury.
60'
vs
Hugo Novoa
Dominik Szoboszlai
60'
vs
Sonny Kittel
Jean-Luc Dompé
57'
vs
FORSBERG HAS A GO
Forsberg draws a fine save from Heuer Fernandes at the other end, jinking inside from the left and curling an effort towards the far post that the goalkeeper does well to keep out.
55'
vs
PROMISING AGAIN FROM HSV
Dompe glides forward down the left and slots a pass into the feet of Meffert. He in turn finds Königsdörffer in the box, but the attacker's attempted cushioned pass to the onrushing Dompe lacks the necessary cushion, and the chance goes begging.
50'
vs
JATTA IN BEHIND
HSV make a run behind the Leipzig defence for what feels like the first time in this game. Jatta is on the right-hand side of the box, shepherded by Gvardiol, but as he shapes to shoot he inadvertently taps the ball with his left foot first, leaving him to swing his right foot into empty space!
47'
vs
UNDER WAY AGAIN
We're back for the second 45 minutes. HSV are unchanged but Leipzig have made one substitution, bringing on Gvardiol for Orban in central defence.
46'
vs
Joško Gvardiol
Willi Orban
0 - 0
Kick-off!
45'
vs
TWO ADDED MINUTES
With the interval fast approaching, we're into the first of two minutes of stoppage time.
42'
vs
INTO THE WALL
Raum takes the free-kick this time, but his left-footed curler strikes the wall.
41'
vs
HENRICHS DOWN
He receives treatment after a hefty challenge, and Leipzig have a free-kick 30 yards from goal...
37'
vs
POULSEN DOUBLE!
It's a similar goal to the first one as Leipzig break down the right. This time Silva gets the assist, sprinting into the box and squaring for Poulsen for another tap-in!
34'
vs
LEIPZIG IN FRONT!
Lovely from Szoboszlai, who waits for Simakan on the overlap down the right and then frees him into space. He then plays a low cross into the middle for Poulsen to tap into an empty net!
28'
vs
FIRST CHANCE FOR LEIPZIG!
It's take almost half an hour for Leipzig to create their first real opening and it's for Henrichs, who cuts in from the right and thumps a left-footed effort at goal. It's got some power behind it, but not the accuracy needed to beat Heuer Fernandes.
23'
vs
POULSEN ACTIVE
The Leipzig forward powers into the HSV box and tries to square the ball to the unmarked Silva, but a defender's foot just gets there first.
19'
vs
OFF THE BAR!
What a hit! Leipzig struggle to clear a ball into the box and it eventually falls kindly for HSV left-back Muheim, lurking just outside the area. He smashes a fearsome volley at goal that arrows towards the top corner - with Blaswich well beaten - but it hits the underside of the crossbar, bounces down and is then hooked away!
16'
vs
HSV HOLDING FIRM
The Bundesliga 2 side is far from overawed here and are not only defending well, but also boldly trying to get forward whenever they can. Their attacks invariably end up breaking down before they can cause much trouble though.
12'
vs
... INTO THE WALL
Forsberg takes the free-kick but smashes it straight into Jatta in the HSV wall.
11'
vs
SZOBOSZLAI TERRITORY
Heyer trips up Szoboszlai as he skips past him, about 30 yards from goal, left of centre. It's a prime location for a free-kick...
9'
vs
SILVA PROBING
Silva peels off his marker and darts behind the HSV defence. Kampl spies his run and plays a nice ball over the top, but Heuer Fernandes comes off his line to collect before the Portuguese forward can get there.
4'
vs
LEIPZIG HAVING A GO
It's been a fast-paced start to the game so far, with Leipzig applying plenty of pressure despite all their big-name absences.
1'
vs
HERE WE GO!
The second round of the cup is under way!
0 - 0
Kick-off!
vs
TEAM NEWS - LEIPZIG
Leipzig boss Marco Rose has made three changes to his side following the win over Hertha Berlin at the weekend. Christopher Nkunku is out after undergoing surgery on his wrist, so Youssef Poulsen is handed a rare start up top. Benjamin Henrichs and Kevin Kampl also come into the team, with Xaver Schlager and Amadou Haidara dropping to the bench.
vs
TEAM NEWS - HAMBURG
The big news for the visitors is that star striker Robert Glatzel is absent. How much that will affect their game remains to be seen, but as a big target man he is the focal point for their attacks, getting on the end of crosses into the box and holding up the ball well. He's replaced by Jean-Luc Dompe, an exciting and jet-heeled winger, so HSV will likely have to have a different approach today. Sebastian Schonlau is on the bench; he was sent off in the derby defeat by St. Pauli at the weekend and given a two-game suspension, so Jonas David starts here to get up to speed ahead of a run in Bundesliga 2.
vs
LEIPZIG STARTING XI
Blaswich - Simakan, Orban (c), Diallo - Henrichs, Kampl, Raum - Szoboszlai, Forsberg - Poulsen, Silva
vs
LEIPZIG SUBS
Nyland, Haidara, Schlager, Ba, Gvardiol, Novoa
vs
HSV STARTING XI
Heuer Fernandes - Heyer, Vuskovic, David, Muheim - Reis, Meffert (c), Suhonen - Jatta, Königsdörffer, Dompe
vs
HSV SUBS
Raab, Andresen, Mikelbrencis, Schonlau, Zumberi, Amaechi, Bilbija, Kittel, Krahn
vs
THE STORY SO FAR
Leipzig booked their ticket for this second-round tie with a comprehensive 8-0 victory over fourth-tier outfit Teutonia Ottensen in the first round at the end of August in a match in which Timo Werner hit a hat-trick following his return to the club. HSV, meanwhile, needed extra time to overcome third-division opponents Bayreuth, eventually winning 3-1 after the match had ended 1-1 after 90 minutes.
123s
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WATCH: PREVIOUS MEETING: LEIPZIG 1-1 HSV
The teams shared the points in a 1-1 draw when they met on 27 January 2018 in the Bundesliga - the season HSV ended up getting relegated.
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WHAT THEY'RE SAYING - LEIPZIG
"We know what we are up against and what to expect," said Leipzig boss Marco Rose. "We will try to set ourselves up accordingly. Above all, we will look to play our game. It's a game of knockout football and we want to progress into the next round. We will need to be compact and put pressure on the ball so we don't let them get into their flow. They have pace on the wings, they like to get crosses into the box and they have a target man through the middle in Robert Glatzel."