BERLIN (AP) — Bayer Leverkusen beat Borussia Dortmund 1-0 in the third round on Tuesday, with Ibrahim Maza’s first-half goal enough to knock them out of the German Cup.
Maza scored in the 34th minute after the team moved from the back. Alex Grimaldo played through the 20-year-old Algeria forward and, although Waldemar Anton blocked Maza’s first shot, he curled his second past Anton and another Dortmund defender.
Leverkusen’s Martin Tellier had his shot on goal ruled out for offside after a VAR check in the second half.
Karim Adeyemi gave dominant Dortmund two good chances before the break and fans thought he had scored in stoppage time, only for his header from a difficult angle to find the side netting.
Coach Maza said of Dortmund’s victory against Leverkusen in Round 1 of the Bundesliga on Saturday, “We had a decisive point.”
Maza’s former team, Hertha Berlin, extended their winning streak in all competitions to seven games with a 6-1 victory over second division rivals Kaiserslautern, who lost to the 2024 finalists. This is the first time they have conceded a goal since October 18, when they lost 3-2 to Bochum.
Sixteen-year-old Kennett Eichhorn scored Hertha’s goal, becoming the club’s youngest scorer.
St. Pauli, who have lost their last nine Bundesliga games, defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-1 away with Louis Oppy scoring the winning goal.
Leipzig, the 2022 and 2023 champions, defeated second division Magdeburg 3-1 at home with Christoph Baumgartner scoring twice.
Fans again remained silent for the first 12 minutes of every match to protest the German government’s proposal to tighten safety measures during matches. Changes on the table include ticket personalization, increased surveillance, including facial recognition software, and banning suspected offending fans from entering stadiums. The proposals were scheduled to be discussed at a three-day interior ministry meeting starting Wednesday.
Bayern Munich and defending champions Stuttgart will face Union Berlin and Bochum respectively on Wednesday.
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