Granit Xhaka Scores As 10-Man Bayer Leverkusen Lift German Cup To Claim A First Double

Granit Xhaka scored the only goal as a 10-man Bayer Leverkusen beat Kaiserslautern 1-0 to lift the German Cup in Berlin on Saturday and give the club the league-cup double. Crowned Bundesliga champions in mid-April, Leverkusen were made to fight hard against their second-division opponents, playing with a man down after Odilon Kossounou's second yellow late in the first half. Xhaka's 16th-minute goal, a beautiful long-range strike with his left foot, made the difference as Leverkusen bounced back from Wednesday's Europa League final loss to Atalanta -- which ended both their season-long unbeaten run at 51 games and their hopes of a treble.

"To win like that at the end, we showed our team spirit. We fought hard, we did it for everyone, the fans, the club," Xabi Alonso told Germany's ARD. 

"To achieve the double. It's been a great season".

Alonso won praise from his opposing coach Friedhelm Funkel, 70, who was managing his last game before retiring. 

"To go through the Bundesliga season unbeaten, it's madness. That he could flick that switch in his first year, is incredible.

"I think he'll win many, many titles."

Underdogs Kaiserslautern

Kaiserslautern, four-time German champions stranded in the lower leagues since 2012, were bidding to become just the second club from outside the top division to lift the Cup after Hannover in 1992. 

Narrowly avoiding relegation to the third league this season, Kaiserslautern only faced one top-division club on the way to the final -- the since-relegated Cologne. 

Kossounou, who was left out of Wednesday's loss in Dublin, returned to the starting line-up and picked up a yellow card after just two minutes for a robust challenge on Kenny Prince Redondo. 

Leverkusen then took the lead after