German Cup: Cologne knocked out of tournament by second-division side Jahn Regensburg

Berlin: Cologne were knocked out of the German Cup by second-division side Jahn Regensburg on Wednesday after throwing away an early two-goal lead to be eliminated at the last 16 stage, 4-3 on penalties. Bundesliga side Cologne looked to be cruising into the last eight with 21 minutes gone in the Bavarian town of Regensburg thanks to goals from Ismail Jakobs and Emmanuel Dennis. However Canadian Scott Kennedy and Jann George replied to make sure Jahn were level before the break, and there then followed another 75 minutes of attritional football before the two teams went to spot-kicks to decide the match. Again Cologne looked to have the advantage when Andreas Albers missed the home side’s third penalty after five successful attempts in the shootout. However the top-flight outfit missed both their subsequent kicks, allowing Albion Vrenezi and Max Besuschkow to net theirs and snatch the tie for Jahn. In the evening’s other late match Borussia Moenchengladbach came back from going behind to Silas Wamangituka’s second-minute opener to win at Stuttgart 2-1 through goals from Marcus Thuram and Alassane Plea. Earlier Leipzig beat Bochum 4-0 thanks to Amadou Haidara’s 10th-minute header, a penalty slammed home in first-half stoppage time by Marcel Sabitzer, who had laid on the opener with a pinpoint cross, and Yussuf Poulsen’s second-half brace. Wout Weghort’s 40th-minute strike, which came from the rebound of the Netherlands attacker’s own missed penalty, was enough for Wolfsburg to squeeze past fellow Bundesliga outfit Schalke. Christian Gross’ Schalke must now turn their attentions to what looks to be a doomed fight against relegation as they sit rock-bottom in the German top flight with just one league win all season. Wednesday’s matches completed the line-up for Sunday’s draw for the quarter-finals, which will be played on March 2 and 3. The four sides join Rot-Weiss Essen after the fourth-division club continued their giant-killing run on Tuesday. Essen defeated last season’s runners-up Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 after extra time to reach the last eight following wins over Arminia Bielefeld and Fortuna Dusseldorf in previous rounds. Borussia Dortmund, Werder Bremen and second-tier Holstein Kiel, who stunned Bayern Munich in the previous round and squeezed past Darmstadt on penalties, also made it through on Tuesday.