Werner scores hat-trick as Leipzig hit eight

Striker nets first two goals in space of 60 seconds as holders beat Ottensen in German Cup first round


AFP August 31, 2022

BERLIN:

Timo Werner scored a first-half hat-trick as German Cup holders RB Leipzig annihilated fourth-division side Teutonia Ottensen 8-0 in the first round on Tuesday.

Werner, who is his club's all-time top goalscorer, scored twice in the space of 60 seconds to put Leipzig two goals ahead after 20 minutes.

Werner completed his hat-trick in the 43rd minute when he hammered in a pass from Swedish midfielder Emil Forsberg.

"It was fun. Those are some of the most unpleasant games, because you have to win and still don't get any compliments for it," Werner told ZDF.

Leipzig manager Domenico Tedesco said Werner, who returned from Chelsea earlier this month, was "on a very good path to achieving very, very good form".

Portuguese striker Andre Silva added two more in the 40th and 53rd minutes.

Forsberg, who confirmed after the game that he would be staying in Leipzig beyond the end of the transfer window, added a goal in the 56th minute.

Leipzig took their foot off the pedal as the second half wore on.

Tedesco substituted Werner for French forward Christopher Nkunku in the 57th minute.

Nkunku, who sits atop the Bundesliga goalscoring charts with four goals after four matches, added Leipzig's seventh in the 77th minute, before Dani Olmo made it 8-0 in the final minute of the game.

Teutonia Ottensen, from the suburbs of Hamburg, were unable to host the game as they play on artificial grass.

They were also unable to play on their replacement ground – the Paul Greifzu Stadium in Dessau – due to a contaminated playing surface, meaning the game needed to be played in Leipzig.

Before the match, sporting director Oliver Mintzlaff said all of Leipzig's proceeds from the game would go to the smaller club.

Under German Cup rules, each team takes 45 percent of the gate revenue regardless of who hosts the game, with the German Football Federation (DFB) keeping the final 10 percent.

On Wednesday, Viktoria Cologne take on 20-time winners Bayern Munich in the final tie of the first round.

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