Werder Bremen suffer shock German Cup defeat

Berlin (AFP) – Bundesliga side Werder Bremen kicked off their new season by being dumped out of the German Cup in the first round with a 2-1 defeat at third-tier club Sportfreunde Lotte on Sunday.

Viktor Skripnik’s Bremen fell behind early on to a goal by defender Matthias Rahn, but Austrian international Zlatko Junuzovic levelled on the stroke of half-time.

Lotte midfielder Andre Dej struck though in the 54th minute, and the home side held on for a famous victory over the six-time winners.

There were no other major shocks, but plenty of top-flight teams still struggled elsewhere on Sunday.

Bayer Leverkusen were given a scare, but edged to a 2-1 win at fifth-division SC Hauenstein thanks to goals from Javier Hernandez and Karim Bellarabi.

Eintracht Frankfurt could only scrape past Magdeburg on penalties after being held to a 1-1 draw, while Mainz also progressed on spot-kicks at fourth-tier outfit Unterhaching after blowing a 3-1 lead in the 90th minute to draw 3-3.

There were no such problems for Darmstadt though, who thrashed Bremer SV 7-0 to ease into round two, while Andrej Kramaric grabbed a hat-trick as Hoffenheim put six past Egestorf-Langreder.