After 120 minutes it was 2-2 in Hamburg – the penalty shoot-out had to decide. In the end, the guests had better nerves.
Fortuna Düsseldorf has reached the semi-finals of the DFB Cup. After 120 minutes the score was 2-2 between St. Pauli and Fortuna, so the decision only came from the spot. The guests had better nerves there. Düsseldorf’s match winners in the penalty shootout were keeper Florian Kastenmaier with two saves and Christos Tzolis with the decisive goal.
According to video evidence, Vincent Vermeij scored with a penalty kick to give the visitors their first lead in the 38th minute of the game. The Dutch attacker had previously been fouled by St. Pauli’s Cup goalkeeper Sascha Burchert and showed no nerves from the spot. Marcel Hartel also equalized with a penalty kick after the substitution (60′). In extra time, Ao Tanaka brought the Rhinelanders forward again after a serious mistake by Burchert, before Carlo Boukhalfa (120+1) saved the home team into a penalty shootout after his coach Fabian Hürzeler was sent off.
That’s how the game went
Fortuna, which won the “pot” in 1979 and 1980, last reached the final four in 1996, but then missed the final. St. Pauli has to cope with a painful setback in what has been an impressive season so far. Most recently, the Kiezkickers made it into the semi-finals of the legendary “B-Series” in 2006.
Both coaches knew exactly what to expect from their opponents in front of an atmospheric backdrop in front of 29,546 spectators. It was only on Saturday evening that St. Pauli won the league 2-1 with two Hartel goals in Düsseldorf and consolidated their lead in the table. The Rhinelanders are also still in the promotion race.
“We can achieve something big. The anticipation is great,” said Hürzeler, who once again expected great effort from his team. With 134.04 kilometers run, St. Pauli set a second division record in Düsseldorf. In the cup duel, however, there were a lot of inaccuracies in the first half that were particularly significant.
The initial efforts of both teams hardly led to any opportunities. Tanaka shot from the edge of the penalty area for Fortuna (15th) and Johannes Eggestein for the hosts tried from a distance (27th), but were unsuccessful. Then Vermeij broke through the hosts’ defense on a pass from Yannik Engelhardt, Burchert rushed too impetuously into the path of the attacker and the first goal was the result.
St. Pauli was challenged after the change – and increased the pressure. Before the equalizer, the Fortuna defense couldn’t get the ball out of its own box and Philipp Treu then gratefully accepted a slight contact from Tanaka.
As a result, the game petered out and went into extra time, in which Hartel had the first big chance (97th). When Burchert couldn’t hold on to a shot from Christoph Daferner shortly afterwards, Tanaka was there. But the hosts equalized again – but ultimately in vain.