BERLIN, Dec 23 — Liverpool loanee Loris Karius endured a miserable competitive debut for Union Berlin today as his side crashed out of the German Cup in the second round following a surprise 3-2 home defeat to second-tier Paderborn.
After spending all of the season on the bench up to now, Karius was forced to fish the ball out of the net just two minutes into his Union debut as Sven Michel gave the underdogs the lead.
Grischa Proemel quickly equalised, but Michel and Dennis Srbeny made it 3-1 before half-time, and a second-half own goal was too little, too late for Union.
“Loris showed at times what he is capable of, but I have to say his defenders let him down in the first half,” said Union coach Urs Fischer.
Fellow Bundesliga side Hoffenheim were also on the receiving end of an upset, as they lost on penalties to second division outfit Greuther Fuerth.
In a dramatic game, Hoffenheim took the lead through Andrej Kramaric early on, but Fuerth equalised quickly.
Ryan Sessegnon, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, played Sebastian Ernst onside and the midfielder nutmegged goalkeeper Oliver Baumann.
After further goals from Fuerth’s Marco Meyerhoefer and Hoffenheim’s Kevin Akpoguma, Sessegnon almost presented Fuerth with victory late on.
The English left back brought down Branimir Hrgota in the box in stoppage time, but Baumann saved Paul Seguin’s penalty to take the game to extra time.
Fuerth triumphed in the shootout, with Meyerhoefer converting his side’s ninth penalty to seal the win.
Elsewhere, goals from Mats Hummels and Jadon Sancho gave Borussia Dortmund a 2-0 win over second-tier Eintracht Braunschweig, while RB Leipzig reached the last 16 for the third season in a row as they eased to a 3-0 win over their cup bogey side Augsburg with goals from Willi Orban, Yussuf Poulsen and Angelino.
Both Schalke and Borussia Moenchengladbach overcame fourth-tier opposition, with Gladbach beating Elversberg 5-0 and Schalke ending their miserable year with a 3-1 win over Ulm. — AFP
