Ahead of the Bayern Showdown: Magdeburg Routed Karlsruhe 6-1

1. FC Magdeburg scored a rout against Karlsruher SC and reached half a dozen goals. After a shaky start, the team from Magdeburg won 6-1 (1-0) in front of 21,146 spectators.

Mateusz Zukowski scored twice on penalty kicks (39th minute/51st), Anselmo Garcia MacNulty (54th), Emmanuel Iyoha (59th), Roko Simic (66th minute), and Leon Mergner (90+3) scored for FCM, while Deniz Ofli (82nd minute) netted the KSC’s only goal. With 16 points, Magdeburg remains among the top teams in the 2nd Bundesliga.

“I don’t think there’s much to complain about. Maybe the one goal we conceded—if not for that, the evening would have been even better,” said Felipe Chavez, who made his first-team debut in place of Moritz-Broni Kwarteng. After the derby loss to Dresden, it was important to “learn from the game, but also put it behind us and focus on the next match,” added the player on loan from Bayern. 

Karlsruhe’s lead disallowed

Alongside Chavez, Alexander Nollenberger started on the left wing. The visitors started aggressively, pressing the Elbe-based team deep into their own half with two players. With their first scoring chance, KSC appeared to take the lead: After a corner kick, Noel Eichinger scored with a header (9th minute)—but following a VAR review, referee Felix Wagner disallowed the goal for offside. 

Magdeburg struggled to get into the game, turned the ball over too quickly, and thus barely managed any offensive plays. Magdeburg also found the net on its first chance through Zukowski (18th minute), but the Polish player was also offside. The match remained disjointed, even though FCM managed to gain more possession. Magdeburg took advantage of a penalty kick to take the lead: Zukowski converted it confidently. Earlier, Sandro Trémoulet had brought down Magdeburg’s Luka Hyryläinen.

Magdeburg’s goal spree after halftime

The second half began with another VAR review: Viktor Bergh had struck Pierre Nadjombe on the foot—Zukowski converted the penalty once again with confidence. Magdeburg immediately added to their lead when MacNulty powered home a header off a free kick by Baris Atik. Iyoha’s goal to make it 4–0 sealed the victory. 

Although Karlsruhe didn’t give up and tried to score a goal of their own, Simic—who had just come on as a substitute—instead made it 5–0. Oflis’s goal was merely a consolation, before Mergner put the finishing touch on the match with his first professional goal. Four days before what coach Petrik Sander called “the easiest game of the season” in the DFB Cup against FC Bayern, the team from Magdeburg gained a great deal of confidence.