Bayer Leverkusen 5-2 FC Nurnberg: Tapsoba double inspires cup comeback

Bayer Leverkusen surged back from 2-0 down to cruise into the last 16 of the DFB-Pokal with a 5-2 rout of FC Nurnberg.

Edmond Tapsoba scored twice and Lucas Vazquez capped off the victory with a wonderful volley in the 89th minute, but at one stage, it looked as though Leverkusen would be on the end of an upset.

Nurnberg, who sit second in the second tier and are coached by Germany and Bayern Munich great Miroslav Klose, raced into a 2-0 lead inside 30 minutes at BayArena.

Rafael Lubach opened the scoring with an excellent 13th-minute finish, before Sigurd Haugen tucked in from close range at the end of a rapid breakaway.

However, new Leverkusen captain Tapsoba headed home from Aleix Garcia's corner to reduce the deficit before half-time.

And that paved the way for a superb second-half showing from Leverkusen.

Tapsoba doubled his tally four minutes after the restart, prodding home at the second attempt after Nurnberg failed to clear from a corner.

Patrik Schick, on as a half-time substitute, then swung the tide fully in Leverkusen's favour when he slotted in from a penalty that he won, having been felled by Alexis Kalogeropoulos.

Jonas Hofmann brilliantly picked out the bottom-right corner from the edge of the box to extend Leverkusen's advantage in the 78th minute, and former Real Madrid man Vazquez then rounded things off with an immaculate strike.

Tapsoba leads by example

Tapsoba has been a regular for Leverkusen since he joined the club in 2020 as a youngster. Now 27, he was handed the captain's armband this term, and he led the way in some fashion.

The centre-back had four attempts, getting three of those on target. Only Hofmann (five) had more shots for either team.

Tapsoba did not have lots to do defensively, given Leverkusen largely dominated, with Nurnberg only having five attempts to their hosts' 25, but he also led Leverkusen for clearances (two).

Garcia was also hugely influential in midfield, creating a game-leading four chances and having a whopping 132 touches, 42 more than any other player (Tapsoba had 90).

While it was ultimately a convincing win for Leverkusen, who generated chances worth 3.07 expected goals (xG), Nurnberg suffered their first DFB-Pokal defeat in a game in which they led at half-time since January 2011, when they lost to Schalke, ending a run of seven such games.