Substituted two minutes before the end, Bochum’s goalkeeper scored the winning goal
Hero of the evening: Bochum’s goalkeeper Manuel Riemann
Quelle: Getty Images/Stuart Franklin
VfL Bochum is in the round of 16 of the DFB Cup. In the penalty shoot-out against FC Augsburg, someone who had only played two minutes became a hero. And then also in an unfamiliar role.
VOily euphoric, the players of VfL Bochum stormed after Manuel Riemann and fell around the neck of their goalkeeper. The VfL DFB Cup hero then stepped onto the fence in front of the fan curve and started the “Humba”. Before that, he was the decisive man in the 5-4 penalty thriller against Bundesliga rivals FC Augsburg – but not as a goalkeeper, but as a shooter.
Riemann converted the decisive penalty on Wednesday evening and shot the team of coach Thomas Reis into the last sixteen. Previously, Augsburg’s Arne Maier had put his penalty over the gate.
After 120 minutes it was in the duel between Bundesliga-14. and -16. then 2: 2 (2: 2, 1: 0) confessed. “Once again it was not for the faint of heart,” said Coach Reis with a Bochum scarf around his neck.
Two minutes before the end of extra time, he had brought his regular goalkeeper Riemann in for the good Michael Esser, who was allowed to play in the DFB Cup game. “We definitely wanted to win this game. We knew Manu was a penalty killer, ”explained Reis. “Both Michael and Manu contributed to our position in the next round.”
It had already looked good for VfL in regular time. Milos Pantovic had shot Bochum comfortably in the lead with his goals (12th / 53rd) in front of 15,220 spectators in the Ruhrstadion. However, FCA came back and with goals from Reece Oxford (55th) and Ruben Vargas (58th) to equalize. In the exhausting extra time, both teams had chances, but the decision had to fall from the point.
Bochum’s coach rotated vigorously
As a result of the success, first division promoted Bochum expanded its small series to three competitive games in a row. Augsburg, on the other hand, is still in the result low despite a strong performance. In the last four games in the Bundesliga, there was only one point. The FCA is on the relegation relegation place.
Bochum went into the game with self-confidence – and showed that. The fact that coach Reis changed the team to six positions was not felt. The Augsburg team initially seemed unsettled after the negative experiences such as the last bitter 1: 4 in Mainz. Nevertheless, Weinzierl only changed his starting XI in two places.
The hosts rewarded themselves for their efforts early on: right-back Konstantinos Stafylidis crossed a corner after Pantovic, who pushed the ball over the line. The second half began with another setback for FC Augsburg when Pantovic increased with his second goal for VfL eight minutes after the break. But the Augsburgers showed morality. Oxford by head and Vargas by dusting equalized within two minutes.
The game became livelier, both teams took more risks. In the final phase, VfL continued to increase the pressure, but could not prevent the extension. In this, the Bochumers remained superior, but Augsburg held against it. So it went into the penalty shootout with VfL keeper Riemann as a hero in an unfamiliar role.
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