Mission accomplished: Viktoria come through 3-1 at Warbeyen to reach the next round of the cup

In summery conditions of 25 degrees, a pitch that left something to be desired, and lightly overcast skies, FC Viktoria travelled to VfR Warbeyen on Sunday afternoon for the play-off round of the women's DFB Cup. The Regionalliga side, who had only been relegated from the 2. Bundesliga last season, welcomed the Viktoria women in front of 219 spectators in Kleve. In the end, Viktoria deservedly won 3-1 after the hosts had briefly levelled the score, and so progress to the next round of the cup competition.

Viktoria in control from the off

From the first minute, Viktoria took control of the match and were the clearly superior side. The opener could well have come as early as the 11th minute, when a direct free-kick from Alisa Grincenco was only narrowly turned away by Warbeyen's goalkeeper. There was a setback in the 14th minute, when Aneta Polášková went down and needed lengthy treatment. She was replaced by Christin Meyer in the 19th minute.

After the game had briefly settled into a rhythm, it was Melina Reuter who found the far corner from a half-left position in the 26th minute to put Viktoria 1-0 ahead. Shortly afterwards, Toma Ihlenburg looked set to make it 2-0 with a long-range effort, but Warbeyen's goalkeeper was equal to it once again, tipping the ball round for a corner. In the 33rd minute, Melina Reuter also struck the crossbar – the second goal wasn't forthcoming before the break. Just before the half-time whistle, the hosts thought they had equalised, but the goal was correctly ruled out for a clear offside. Viktoria therefore went into the dressing room with a narrow 1-0 lead.

Warbeyen level, but Viktoria turn the game around with a late surge

The start to the second half didn't go to plan: in the 50th minute, goalkeeper Melanie Wagner misjudged the ball slightly, Warbeyen struck the post, and the rebound fell to Chelsea Homan, who tapped in to make it 1-1 into an empty net. Warbeyen continued to look dangerous on the break from time to time after that, but weren't strong enough overall.

From the 62nd minute onwards, play shifted almost exclusively into Warbeyen's final third, though Viktoria initially failed to create any clear-cut chances. A sharply whipped-in free-kick in the 64th minute couldn't yet be converted into a renewed lead. After a double substitution in the 70th minute – with Christin Meyer and Senanur Yavuz making way for Leni Fischer and Kim Urbanek – the closing stages really picked up pace: in the 72nd minute, Leyila Aydin struck from outside the box, thundering the ball unstoppably into the bottom right corner to make it 2-1.

Just seven minutes later, Kim Urbanek ruthlessly punished a misplaced pass from Warbeyen's defence to make it 3-1, before Maja Wasiak came on in the 80th minute to replace goalscorer Leyila Aydin. A corner in stoppage time brought no further change to the scoreline – Viktoria saw out the 3-1 win comfortably.

Summary and outlook

Viktoria have thus overcome their first cup task of the season and progress convincingly to the next round. The draw for the first round of the DFB Cup takes place as early as tomorrow, Monday, 17 August 2026, at 2pm. Attention now turns to league business: next Sunday, 23 August, Viktoria host SG 99 Andernach at their home ground, Stadion Lichterfelde, kicking off at 2pm to open their 2. Bundesliga campaign.

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Goals:

1-0 Melina Reuter (26')

1-1 Chelsea Homan (50')

2-1 Leyila Aydin (72')

3-1 Kim Urbanek (79')

Starting XI:

Wagner (GK) – Ihlenburg, Fürst, Reuter, Grincenco, Krist, Stöckmann (C), Polášková (19' Meyer (70' Fischer)), Yavuz (70' Urbanek), Aydin (80' Wasiak), Casanovas