Bundesliga News

Germany: DFB Pokal
FT
0 - 4
(0 - 2)
Hannover
RB Leipzig
C. Nkunku (17), C. Nkunku (22), K. Laimer (67), A. Silva (73)

Leipzig cruise to 0-4 win and cement Pokal semi-final slot

By Ultan Corcoran   @UltanCorcoran

A quickfire Nkunku brace was complimented with goals from Laimer and Silva in a comfortable night for the Bundesliga side.
Christopher Nkunku.
Christopher Nkunku.Photo: Steffen Prößdorf, CC BY-SA 4.0
The other of the two early Pokal quarter final kick offs saw the Bundesliga side come out victorious and punch their ticket for the semi final stage after a convincing 0-4 win.


The opening 15 minutes witnessed the visitors boss the possession statistics; however, Hannover were proving very hard to break down and allowed only one shot at goal in that time frame. Having kept Gladbach scoreless in the previous round, Leipzig knew how difficult their night ahead could be with the experienced Zieler marshalling the H96 defence.

Nonetheless, Leipzig broke the deadlock when counter attacking rapidly on 17 minutes. Olmo raided forward with the ball at his feet, while Nkunku’s perfectly timed run fragmented the H96 backline. The Frenchman controlled the ball perfectly and placed his shot to the left of Zieler’s outstretched arm in goal.

One quickly became two goals for Nkunku and Leipzig, when the star doubled his sides lead five minutes later. Having served his suspension against Bochum last weekend, Gvardiol threaded a perfect pass into Nkunku once more. This time Leipzig’s No.18 rounded Zieler, evaded Franke’s last gasp challenge, and put the ball into the empty net with ice-cold composure.

Leipzig pushed hard for a third goal just before the break, both Gvardiol and Heinrichs came as close to scoring as one possibly could, but Tedesco’s side still went in the happier of the two teams at the interval with one foot in the next round.

Although Hannover came out of the blocks pretty reinvigorated in the early second half, Leipzig seemed more than content with their lead and soaking up the home side’s pressure. Laimer eventually put a seal on things on 57 minutes when a one-two combination with Silva let the Austrian hammer the ball past Zieler for 0-3.

Silva also got in on the act on 73 minutes when Angelino’s ball floated over Zieler’s head giving the Portuguese striker the most routine of tap-ins from a yard out. RB ran out comfortable winners in the end and will await the semi final draw to discover their opponents.



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