It was a Super Sunday for drama in the DFB-Pokal first round, as another Bundesliga side were knocked out at the first hurdle.
Bochum and Bremen the biggest sides to get knocked out
Despite starting the season with real purpose, there will be no cup run for Gertjan Verbeek and VfL Bochum this year. FC Astoria Walldorf opened the scoring through Nicolai Groß but Bochum managed to find a quick equaliser through Marco Stiepermann.
The second half saw the feat repeated, this time with Marcel Carl giving the hosts the lead again but for Kevin Stöger to reply 10 minutes later. In extra-time, Marcus Meyer and Steffen Straub gave Astoria the two-goal cushion needed to progress. Stöger's late strike was not enough stop the Ruhr side from exiting the cup, as they lost 4-3.
But there would be a bigger scalp - although the same division gap as the aforementioned game was maintained - as Sportfreunde Lotte took down Werder Bremen. Lotte were in the Regionalliga last season but that made no difference; the team, full of confidence, went ahead after eight minutes through Matthias Rahn.
Zlatko Junuzovic looked to have restored order just before half-time after he headed home from Janek Sternberg's cross. The restart brought Lotte out a renewed and fresh force and Andre Dej edged the FRIMO Stadion side in front once more. Bremen could never really recover, and a late Fin Bartels red-card capped off a miserable 2-1 defeat.
Hoffenheim, Darmstadt and Leverkusen through in normal time
Unlike the other games, there is very little to talk about in these three ties. SV Darmstadt 98 recorded the biggest win of the day, as they beat Bremer SV 7-0. Antonio-Mirko Colak helped himself to a hat-trick, while an own-goal, Sven Schipplock, Marcel Heller and Jerome Gondorf rounded off the scoring.
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim also went to town in the first round, as they put six past 1. FC Germania Egestorf/Langreder. Former Darmstadt forward, Sandro Wagner got the final goal of the game but not before Andrej Kramaric grabbed a hat-trick. Sebastian Rudy and Mark Uth also scored, with both sides having a player sent off in the second half.
The least surprising result of all came courtesy of Bayer Leverkusen, but they could only edge past SC Hausenstein 2-1. Javier Hernandez and Karim Bellarabi got the crucial goals, although Andjelo Srzentic made it a far from comfortable ending with a goal 10 minutes from time.
Ingolstadt, Mainz, Hertha and Frankfurt require penalties
Four Bundesliga teams were taken right to the wire, in what could have been a set of huge upsets. FC Ingolstadt 04 - as well as Alex Howell's mammoth trip - could have turned sour at the death as they drew 0-0 with Erzgebirge Aue after 120 minutes. However, the Schanzer came through with eight perfect penalties to Aue's seven.
Hertha BSC also had a perfect record from 12 yards against Jahn Regensburg, taking out the Regionalliga side 5-3 on spot-kicks. The minnows were set to cause a huge upset after Alexander Nandzik had given them the lead but Mitchell Weiser's 84th-minute header took the game to extra-time and, ultimately, Hertha's penalty victory.
Eintracht Frankfurt got off to a much better start than the two previous sides, as Branimir Hrgota opened his debut with a cool finish against 1. FC Magdeburg. But back came the 3. Liga side and equalised through Nico Hammann. Michael Hector was sent off in extra-time but the hosts didn't take advantage, as SGE claimed a 4-3 penalty win.
The most entertaining game to lead to a penalty shoot-out was with SpVgg Unterhaching, as they held 1. FSV Mainz 05 to a 3-3 draw. It was dramatic to the death, after Jhon Cordoba and Fabian Frei's goals looked to have cancelled out Stephan Hain's strike to seal a 2-1 win. However, Hain struck again in the 88th minute before Yunus Malli issued an immediate response. Vitalij Lux then made it 3-3 before Guilio Donati was sent off at the end of extra-time, but Hain's missed penalty meant Mainz went through.
Fürth, Union and Heidenheim in the hat for round two
As for the 2. Bundesliga sides, Bochum aside, it was a successful afternoon. 1. FC Union Berlin were run very, very close by MSV Duisburg in a game that was decided by an own-goal in extra-time. It was a tight and tense first-half that required Jakob Busk to be at his best in the visiting goal, and his form was rewarded with a Collin Quaner opener. Stanislav Iljutchenko hit back almost immediately and the game went into extra-time. Fabian Schnellhardt's own-goal at the very beginning then proved the difference.
Greuther Fürth and 1. FC Heidenheim were two teams who didn't need extra-time or spot-kicks to book their place in the next round. Eintracht Norderstedt were brushed aside 4-1 by the Shamrocks, with Robert Zulj, Serdar Dursun, Zlatko Tripic and Benedikt Kirsch all getting on the scoresheet. It wasn't as simple for Heidenheim, who fell behind to SG Wattenscheid through Demir Tumbul's goal. However, John Verhoek and Denis Thomalla turned things around late on to spare their blushes with a 2-1 win.