DFB-Pokal: Augsburg resist Großaspach’s fighting spirit to book Round of 16 spot

FC Augsburg are through to the Round of 16 in the DFB-Pokal after their 4-2 win over SG Großaspach. Manuel Baum's men raced into a two-goal lead early in the game before the 3. Liga produced a battling performance.

Rodrigo Ribeiro, who scored in the 2-2 Bundesliga draw with Bayern, netted twice in the space of less than ten minutes. The Portuguese youngster opened the scoring with a brilliant finish before his dramatic second goal.

12 seconds after Marius Kunde hit the post at the other end, Ribeiro doubled Augsburg's lead with Hennes Behrens’ quick thinking spotted his run in a quick counterattack. To make matters even more dramatic, Großaspach did score a minute later in a move that needed a VAR intervention.

Luca Molinari, who scored SG's solitary goal in the weekend's 7-1 defeat to Wehen Wiesbaden, pulled one back for the hosts with his third goal of the season. Behrens, Kunde and Young-Woo Seol had chances at both ends to add to the scoreline before the half-time break.

Großaspach did score early in the second-half against Arminia Bielefeld in the first round to make it 2-2, and they did it again with Volkan Celiktas’ strike a couple of minutes after the restart. That one was decided on penalties, but Augsburg's substitutes prevented a repeat of a similar outcome.

First, Arijon Ibrahimović scored from range to put the visitors’ ahead with 20 minutes left to play. Less than five minutes later, Anton Kade’s strike restored Augsburg's two-goal advantage. Maximilian Reule prevented a fifth goal as Großaspach were knocked out despite their indifferent performance compared to their 3. Liga struggles.

Augsburg will hope to end their five-game winless streak in Bundesliga when they host third-placed SC Freiburg on Saturday.