Coach Bruno Labbadia from VfB Stuttgart has defended own goal scorer Konstantinos Mavropanos after his faux pas in the round of 16 of the DFB Cup.
“It happens. We are human, mistakes are just part of it,” said Labbadia after the 2-1 (0-1) win at second division SC Paderborn: “It’s important how you stand by it. We caught that well as a team.”
Due to the record-breaking own goal from 48.1 meters, VfB fell behind in the 4th minute. Only late goals from debutant Gil Dias (86′) and Serhou Guirassy (90’+5′) secured Stuttgart’s entry into the next round and Labbadia’s first win since his return to the Swabians. “Dino’s have certainly taken some weight off their chests,” said his trainer.
Labbadia was very happy after completing the Paderborn task. “It’s great that we won. We really wanted to make it to the quarter-finals, and we did it,” said the 56-year-old: “We’re very happy.”
Now Labbadia and the Swabians also want to improve in the Bundesliga. Stuttgart welcomes Werder Bremen in front of their own audience on Sunday (3:30 p.m. / DAZN). VfB is 15th in the bottom of the table in the league.
