BERLIN, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Erling Haaland's hat trick fired defending champions Borussia Dortmund past hapless Wehen Wiesbaden at the opening round of the German Cup on Saturday.

The "BVB" needed no warm-up time and took the reins from the kick-off as Haaland and Steffen Tigges caused trouble in front of Wiesbaden's goal area in the opening stages.

With nine minutes gone, Dortmund unleashed its first shot on target as Marco Reus' attempt forced goalkeeper Florian Stritzel into action.

Wiesbaden staged a courageous performance and tried to push forward but as they dared, they got caught flat-footed by the title holders as Reus' counterattack allowed Haaland to break the deadlock with 27 minutes played.

Haaland made it two, three minutes later after Stritzel pulled down the striker inside the box. The Norway international stepped up and converted the subsequent penalty into the bottom right corner.

The hosts tried to respond but couldn't cause any damage to Dortmund's well-positioned defense for the remainder of the first half.

To make things worse for the Wehen, Haaland wasn't done with the scoring and wrapped up his third goal of the night after Giovanni Reyna's good build-up work in the 51st minute.

Dortmund retracted with the three-goal lead and handed over control to Wiesbaden, who was more active but still not dangerous enough to give custodian Gregor Kobel work.

At the other end of the pitch, things looked different as Stritzel had to be on guard to defuse the efforts from new arrival Donyell Malen and Haaland in the closing stages.

"The team staged a very focussed and powerful performance. They left no doubt that they want to win. They should have scored more goals though," Dortmund's designated sporting director Sebastian Kehl said.

Elsewhere, lower league side Babelsberg upset newly promoted Bundesliga outfit Greuther Furth 5-4 on penalties and advance into the second round. Enditem

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