Jordan Pefok was on target for Borussia Monchengladbach as he scored twice to help his team move on to the next round of the German Cup with a win over Lennard Maloney and Heidenheim.
Borussia Monchengladbach 3-1 Heidenheim
Jordan Pefok scored two goals within a six-minute span as Borussia Monchengladbach did the damage in the first half to come away with a resounding win over Heidenheim at Borussia Park.
Pefok, who has been looking to regain his goal-scoring touch, was the star man of the game as he played 65 minutes, completing 71 percent of his passes, winning, winning two duels, and creating two chances along with five total shots. Joe Scally went the distance for the Foals as he completed 84 percent of his passes, won two duels, made a tackle, and created two chances. On the other side, Lennard Maloney only played the first half.
The hosts jumped out to lead only three minutes into the contest when Pefok swept home Robin Hack’s corner kick from the left side. He scored his second on the night in the ninth minute when Nathan Ngoumou did most of the hard work to get around his marker in the 18-yard box to center the ball for the American striker to put in the roof of the net.
‘Gladbach extended their lead before halftime when Hack got his name on the scoresheet after heading in a cross from Luca Netz.
Heidenheim was able to score a consolation goal in the 78th minute when Adrian Beck headed in a pass from Norman Theuerkauf, but the Foals would eventually walk away the victors as they await their next opponent.
Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Hoffenheim
A first-half goal would be enough to help Borussia Dortmund move to the round of 16 as they held on for the win over Hoffenheim at Signal Iduna Park.
Gio Reyna started again for BVB as he went 70 minutes, completing 95 percent of his passes, winning four duels, making one tackle, and creating five chances. On the other side, John Brooks went the distance for the Blues as he completed 93 percent of his passing, won four duels, and made one tackle.
Both sides had excellent chances to open the scoring in the first half, but the goals would not come.
The hosts would then get the sole goal of the game in the 43rd minute. Julian Brandt played the ball out wide to the left for Reyna. The American midfield then fed the ball to Jamie Bynoe-Gittens in the 18-yard box and the Englishman delivered it to Marco Reus to steer home.
Dortmund clearly dominated proceedings in the second half, but was unfortunate to score any more goals to put the game out of reach. However, the 1-0 scoreline was enough to get them to the next stage.
Notes
In other action from the German Cup, Brenden Aaronson played the final 18 minutes as Union Berlin continued its struggles with a 1-0 defeat to Stuttgart.
Wolfsburg had the shock of the cup competition as they knocked out holders RB Leipzig by a 1-0 scoreline. Kevin Paredes came off the bench to play 25 minutes for the Wolves.
Both Julian Green and Maximilian Dietz went the distance for Greuther Furth as they were eliminated following a 2-1 loss to Homburg.
Terrence Boyd started and played 76 minutes as Kaiserslautern was able to hold on and boot FC Cologne out of the tournament with a 3-2 win.
Eintracht Frankfurt advanced to the round of 16 after a 2-0 win over Viktoria Koln. Paxten Aaronson played eight minutes while Tim Chandler stayed on the bench.
Joseph Richardson was on the bench as Sandhausen was dumped out following a 5-2 defeat by Bayer Leverkusen.
