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Leipzig knocked out of German Cup

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BERLIN:

Wolfsburg produced the first shock of this season’s German Cup, knocking out holders RB Leipzig with an inspired 1-0 win as fourth-tier Homburg upset Greuther Fuerth and Kaiserslautern sank Cologne.

Wolfsburg, coached by Niko Kovac, who guided Eintracht Frankfurt to glory in this competition in 2018, took an early lead through Vaclav Cerny – and Leipzig never recovered.

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The Red Bull outfit have a rich recent pedigree in the competition, reaching the previous three finals, losing in 2021 to Borussia Dortmund first but winning the last two against Freiburg and Frankfurt.

However, Wolfsburg have not made it beyond the quarter-finals since lifting the trophy in 2015.

But on home turf, Kovac’s side put their Bundesliga troubles behind them and pulled off their biggest victory of the season.

Despite going into this game having lost four of their last five league games, Wolfsburg flew out of the blocks.

Summer signing Cerny latched onto a perfectly-weighted pass by Tiago Tomas and unleashed an unstoppable left-footed drive into the roof of the net for his first goal of the season.

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Leipzig struggled to find their rhythm and when Yussuf Poulsen saw red nine minutes into the second half for a clumsy second yellow, the reigning champions’ chances disappeared.

In another surprise result, Greuther Fuerth of Germany’s second division were beaten 2-1 at home by fourth tier Homburg with Phil Harres scoring a late winner.

Bundesliga strugglers Cologne were sent packing by second-tier Kaiserslautern, whose slick performance put them 3-0 up after 65 minutes and seemingly out of sight.

Cologne clawed it back to 3-2 but it was too little too late, ending the game with nine men after Eric Martel and captain Florian Kainz were sent off within the space of five second half minutes.

Cologne have now won only one of their last 10 games.

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In an extraordinary game between third division Unterhaching and second-tier Fortuna Duesseldorf, the underdogs were pegged back to 3-3 after being 2-0 up, with Duesseldorf eventually prevailing 6-3 after extra time.

Hamburg were 13 minutes from going out to third-tier Arminia Bielefeld but levelled the game at 1-1, with the second division club eventually clinching victory 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out.

Earlier, Stuttgart’s fine start to the Bundesliga season transferred to the Cup, winning 1-0 against beleaguered Union Berlin.

Union Berlin qualified for the Champions League for the first time in their history last season, but their domestic form this term has been poor.

The only goal of the game came in first half stoppage time courtesy of Deniz Undav.

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Borussia Moenchengladbach, three-time German Cup winners, beat Heidenheim 3-1 to reach the last 16, while Johannes Eggestein scored a 102nd minute winner for St. Pauli, who needed extra time to beat Schalke 2-1.



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Shadab Khan provides an update on his injury

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Pakistan all-rounder, Shadab Khan suffered an unexpected injury during National T20 Cup match between Rawalpindi and Sialkot in Karachi on Sunday.

The incident took place as Shadab was fielding during the match, having bowled two economical overs. The unfortunate mishap occurred when the ball unexpectedly rose above his foot, resulting in a sudden and painful ankle twist. 

The video footage of Shadab being carried off the field piggyback style by a teammate went viral on social media, raising concerns about the severity of the injury.

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نیشنل T20 کرکٹر شادب خان انجری کا شکار شاداب کو کندھوں پر اٹھاکر ڈرینسنگ روم منتقل کیا گیا راولپنڈی کی کپتان سیالکوٹ کے خلاف میچ کھیلتے ہوئے پائوں کی انجری کا شکار ہوئے @76Shadabkhan @TheRealPCB #shadabkhan #IslamabadUnited pic.twitter.com/mEnGqmayi2

— KHIZAR AZAM (@KHIZARAZAM) December 3, 2023

In an exclusive interview with Cricket Pakistan, Shadab recounted the incident and explained the severity of the pain that left him incapacitated for a few minutes, making it difficult for him to comprehend the extent of the injury and eventually he had to seek assistance.

“When the ball came above my foot, I had an ankle twist. When the ankle twisted, I couldn’t even comprehend it for 2-3 minutes because the pain was severe. Then I tried to walk to the sidelines. The boundary on the side was a bit short, so I walked out there, but after that, I didn’t have the courage to continue walking. Then there was a guy there, so I thought of somehow making it to the dressing room,” Shadab said.

Fortunately, Shadab provided a glimmer of optimism when discussing his current status of his fitness.

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“Now the fitness is improving. The injury is not too major. The report has come, but the doctors haven’t told me how much time it will take. As soon as they tell, the rehab will start according to their instructions.” he further added.

Shadab highlighted the proactive approach being taken to ensure effective rehabilitation process ahead of Pakistan’s T20I series against New Zealand in January.

“The injury doesn’t seem too prolonged. The physios will assess it and plan accordingly for the New Zealand series.” he concluded.