Five different goalscorers capped off quite an incredible performance from Nürnberg on Tuesday evening, blitzing Fortuna Düsseldorf 5-1.
Stunning start for René Weiler's side
It was immediately obvious that the hosts were going to have an enjoyable evening, after the scoring started in just the 10th minute. A wonderful run from Tim Leibold managed to free up some space for Laszlo Sepsi. The Romanian picked out Guido Burgstaller in the middle, who calmly tucked home.
It went from bad to worse a few minutes later, as Hanno Behrens doubled the lead. A ball in from Alessandro Schöpf was met by Behrens at the near post, and Lars Unnerstall was unable to prevent the ball from crossing the line. Fortuna were well and truly rattled.
Both sides had chances to add to the score-line but it was a quick-fire double that would see the hosts home and dry before the break. A great ball from Schöpf fed Niclas Füllkrug, with the forward slotting home past the helpless Unnerstall. It was not the end of the scoring, as Burgstaller turned provider for Leibold. A lay-off fell straight into the wide-man's path, and he stroked in from 16 yards with a very confident finish.
Second half sees the hosts close the game out
Understandably, the tempo of both sides' dropped off massively in the second period. Patrick Erras and Oliver Fink exchanged shots at either end, though neither provided much concern to the respective opposition stopper. There would, however, be two more goals.
First, Danny Blum struck just minutes after coming onto the field. A good move saw Burgstaller involved once again, and he provided the assist for Blum. The striker had been on the pitch for just two minutes. There would be some consolation for Fortuna, and particularly Kerem Demirbay. The on-loan midfielder scored an excellent effort from distance, but it was too little too late and the hosts comfortably progressed to the next round.