1899 Hoffenheim have secured a spot in the 2nd round of the DFB Cup

"We have to enter the game being focussed and then we will reach the next round," said coach Rangnick prior to the game and his team delivered. Hoffenheim entered the match in a focussed and determined fashion and thus it didn't take long before Rostock keeper Jörg Hahnel conceded the first goal. Ibisevic collected the ball inside the penalty area and passed the ball to Ba, who fired a low shot from a difficult angle into the back of the net (14'). Hoffenheim continued to push forward and barely allowed Rostock to get back into the game. An individual mistake by Rostock led to Hoffenheim's second goal. Müller's back-pass to Hahnel was too short and Ibisevic anticipated the situation well, curved around the keeper and doubled the visitors lead (18'). Ten minutes later, the next miss placed pass helped Hoffenheim to their third goal of the day. Ibisevic again picked up the ball and set up Mlapa, who netted his first goal in his first competitive match for Hoffenheim. Hoffenheim now dominated their opponents and soon added a fourth goal to their lead. This time around, it was Mlapa who assisted Ibisevic, as he scored his second goal of the match (31').

Rangnick made one substitution at half time, by bringing Carlos Eduardo for goalscorer Demba Ba. Hoffenheim continued to control the game, but did not go at the same pace as in the first half. Rostock were spurred on by the home crowd, but struggled to create anything useful until the 64th minute. Larthey had a shot on target from 10 yards, but Tom Starke blocked the attempt with a good save. Hoffenheim did not invest too heavily into their offensive ambitions anymore, as they clearly had the first Bundesliga matchday and Werder Bremen on their minds already. Rostock had another opportunity to get one back, but again Larthey's shot was saved by Tom Starke and Hoffenheim this kept the clean sheet and advanced to the second round comfortably.

 

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