Three first-half goals sent Leipzig into the last 16 of the German Cup with a 4-2 win at St. Pauli on Tuesday.
The Red Bulls took the initiative against the defensive-minded visitors, needing just 12 minutes to break the deadlock. St Pauli failed to clear the ball out of the area, allowing Youssef Poulsen to slot home from six metres.
The hosts continued to press, and five minutes later, Christoph Baumgartner headed in Lutscharel Geertruda’s pinpoint cross, reports .
St Pauli halved the deficit on the half-hour mark when Morgan Guilavogui latched onto Johannes Aggestin’s cutback pass.
Leipzig restored their two-goal lead when Poulsen finished off a counter-attack to make it 3–1.
After the restart, St Pauli came out firing, putting the passive hosts on the back foot, and were finally rewarded for their efforts on the hour mark when Erik Smith’s cross was headed home by Lukas Klostermann. mixed with an unstoppable deflection.
The visitors threatened more in the closing stages, but Leipzig’s Antonio Nusa put the result beyond doubt with an 80th minute solo run.
Elsewhere, Chris Fuerich’s late winner saw Stuttgart progress after beating Kaiserslautern 2-1.
