BERLIN (Reuters) - Borussia Monchengladbach have crashed out of the German Cup after losing 2-1 to second division outfit Darmstadt, while Hoffenheim cruised 5-1 past struggling Schalke into the round of the last 16 on Tuesday.
Darmstadt started brightly on home soil and shocked Gladbach with 23 minutes gone when Phillip Tietz tapped home Marvin Mehlem’s cutback to open the scoring from inside the box.
The hosts almost doubled their advantage ten minutes later, but Matthias Bader’s long-range effort rattled only the crossbar.
Gladbach showed signs of life in the closing stages of the first half but neither Marcus Thuram nor Alassane Plea was able to restore parity before the break.
After the restart, the Foals started where they left off and equalized three minutes into the second half, as Plea’s through-ball allowed Luca Netz to beat Darmstadt goalkeeper Marcel Schuhen into the far corner.
The hosts assumed control again and got rewarded for their efforts in the 79th minute after Aaron Seydel made the most of Mehlem’s good build-up work to make it 2-1.
Monchengladbach pressed frenetically for the leveller, but Darmstadt’s defense stood firm and protected the narrow lead to the final whistle.
“We are of course very disappointed. We wanted to advance into the next round but crashed out,” said Monchengladbach head coach Daniel Farke.
Elsewhere, Hoffenheim showed no mercy against Schalke and secured a 5-1 victory after Munas Dabbur’s brace paved the way for the victory.
RB Leipzig booked their berth for the last 16 as well after Yussuf Poulsen’s first-half double helped the Red Bulls ease 4-0 past second division Hamburg.
In other matches, Mainz overpowered lower league side VfB Lubeck 3-0, Frankfurt scored two quick goals to see off Stuttgarter Kickers 2-0, Wolfsburg beat stubborn Braunschweig 2-1 courtesy of Jakub Kaminski’s winner, and Bochum downed SV Elversberg 1-0.