The lightning starters from Borussia Mönchengladbach also won the quick reunion with 1. FC Heidenheim.
The Foals easily defeated the Bundesliga newcomers 3-1 (3-0) in front of 41,660 spectators and gave coach Gerardo Seoane a belated birthday present by reaching the round of 16 of the DFB Cup.
US international Jordan Siebatcheu (3rd/9th) and Robin Hack (44th), who was already successful in the first round, scored before the break for Seoane’s team, who turned 45 on Monday.
This meant that Borussia reached the round of 16 for the 31st time in the club’s history. FCH, who had just lost 1-2 in the Bundesliga on Saturday, shortened the lead through Adrian Beck (78′).
The game began with a sense of déjà vu: As in both halves on Saturday, Gladbach scored early from a corner. This time it was Jordan, top scorer in the Swiss league for Seoane’s former club Young Boys Bern in 2021/2022, who gave Heidenheim’s substitute goalkeeper Vitus Eicher no chance. Coach Frank Schmidt had criticized his team’s sleepiness in the first few minutes at the weekend – to no avail.
And it got even worse: Jonas Föhrenbach, who had scored an own goal three days earlier, was sleeping in his own six-yard box, and Jordan was once again the beneficiary.
FCH, still winless away from home in the league, now let the hosts have their way; Union loanee Jordan should have scored a hat trick in the 13th minute. So it was Hack who mentally removed all doubts about progressing.
In keeping with Halloween, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” blared from the speakers during the break, but the game remained the exact opposite. Even a quadruple substitution didn’t get Heidenheim back on track; Beck’s header goal came too late.