Cacau in action

Five of the best to open the campaign

VfB Stuttgart were comfortable 5-0 (2-0) winners over amateur side SV Falkensee-Finkenkrug in the first round of the DFB-Cup. The goals for the Bundesliga side were scored by Vedad Ibisevic, Martin Harnik (2), Tunay Torun and Shinji Okazaki.

VfB coach Bruno Labbadia opened his first competitive game in the 2012/2013 season with new signing Tim Hoogland in the starting eleven. The left flank was catered for by Arthur Boka and Ibrahima Traoré, with Christian Gentner joining William Kvist in defensive midfield and Vedad Ibisevic as the lone striker.

The Bundesliga club made the expected attacking start and created a number of early chances, with both Serdar Tasci and Martin Harnik testing the SV keeper within the first ten minutes. A crowd of 7,250 at the Karl-Liebknecht-Stadion saw the home side attempt to close things down at the back but on the half-hour mark, VfB finally broke the deadlock. Stefan Demuth in the SV goal could only parry a Georg Niedermeier header from a corner and Vedad Ibisevic pounced on the loose ball to make it 1-0. With the stalemate broken, Bruno Labbadia’s men continued to press forward and create chances but it took until the 43^rd minute before VfB could increase their lead. Again Demuth could only parry a header, this time from Ibisevic, and Martin Harnik was on hand to pick up the pieces and give the Bundesliga side a 2-0 lead to take into the break.