Wolfsburg knock Leipzig out of DFB Cup

Wolfsburg 1-0 Leipzig
Goals: 1-0 Černý 14’ (assist: Tomás)
Send off: Poulsen (56’)

As holders, Leipzig were favourites to go through prior to kick-off, especially as they had beaten Wolfsburg in four of their previous five cup meetings. However, the Wolves showed they were determined to buck that trend within the opening seconds here, as Mattias Svanberg set up Tiago Tomás, whose shot was well saved by Peter Gulácsi. The hosts did take the lead on the quarter-hour mark though, Tomás sliding a ball into the run of Václav Černý, who held off the challenge of Castello Lukeba to rifle the ball high into the net. Leipzig tried to muster a response and dominated possession, but could not find a way through a well-drilled Wolfsburg defence.

Neither side made any changes during the interval, but Leipzig boss Marco Rose was soon forced to shuffle his side around when Yussuf Poulsen was sent off for a second yellow card in the 56th minute. Jakub Kaminski could have put Wolfsburg out of sight just moments later when he collected Aster Vranckx’s pass, but his curling effort went narrowly the wrong side of the post. As the match wore on, Leipzig were forced to commit greater numbers forward in search of an equaliser, and although Loïs Openda connected with a David Raum free-kick he was unable to keep it from blazing over the crossbar. That was about as close as Leipzig came to finding the net as the Wolves saw the result to the final whistle to book their place in the last 16.

Match stats

• Jonas Wind has had a direct hand in 11 of Wolfsburg’s 20 competitive goals in 2023/24, also scoring and assisting one each in the first round.
• Kovač has now won 23 of his 25 DFB Cup fixtures as a coach, winning the trophy with both Eintracht Frankfurt (2018) and Bayern Munich (2019) and beating Leipzig 3-0 in the final for the latter.
• Wolfsburg have lost seven of their last 11 DFB Cup encounters with fellow Bundesliga clubs, with three of those seven coming against Leipzig.
• Poulsen is Leipzig’s record scorer in the DFB Cup with 12 goals, ahead of Timo Werner (11).
• Two-time defending champions Leipzig were on a run of 13 straight wins in the DFB Cup since losing the 2020/21 final, which was also Die Roten Bullen’s only defeat in their last 10 cup ties against fellow Bundesliga clubs.
• Leipzig have faced Wolfsburg more than any other club in their 14-year history (21) and lost only two of the last 13 competitive encounters.

Teams

Wolfsburg: Pervan – Baku (Mæhle 74’), Bornauw, Lacroix (c), Zesiger - Gerhardt, Svanberg – Černý (Paredes 65’), Vranckx (Arnold 81’), Kamiński (Majer 81’) – Tomás (Wind 74’)
Unused subs: Schulze, Cozza, Pejčinović, Jenz
Out: Casteels (abdominals), Fischer (knee), Nmecha (knee), Rogério (calf)
Coach: Niko Kovač

Leipzig: Gulácsi (c) - Henrichs, Klostermann, Castello (Simakan 73’), Raum - Xavi, Schlager (Kampl 73’), Haidara (Baumgartner (80’), Werner (Šeško 73’) – Openda (Carvalho 86’), Poulsen
Unused subs: Blaswich, Lenz, Forsberg, Seiwald
Out: Bitshiabu (knee), Olmo (shoulder), Orban (knee)
Coach: Marco Rose

As it happened!