DFB-Pokal: Nuremberg fights but misses the surprise

In the Bundesliga on the abyss, in the DFB Cup at least in the semi-finals: The crisis-ridden VfB Stuttgart celebrated the much-needed sense of achievement at the premiere of the new coach Sebastian Hoeneß. Two days after the dismissal of Bruno Labbadia, the Swabians trembled to a 1-0 (0-0) in the quarterfinals at second division club 1. FC Nürnberg and reached the round of the last four for the first time since 2013. The pressure on the five-time German champion and on Hoeneß, Stuttgart’s number four coach this season, remains high: the bottom of the table is doomed to win in the basement duel against VfL Bochum on Sunday (5:30 p.m. / DAZN).

After all, VfB was able to gain some self-confidence after five league games without a win. In addition, the financially troubled Stuttgart secured a bonus of 3.35 million euros thanks to a late joker goal by Enzo Millot (83rd). The club had last reached the semi-finals in 2007 when they triumphed in the cup (in the final against Stuttgart). Before his debut, Hoeneß had spoken of a “huge chance” of “getting a change in mood”.

With four changes compared to the 0: 3 at Union Berlin, he wanted to accomplish this “reversal”. He also demanded courage from his professionals. But after the 30-minute delay in kick-off, they were initially rather unsettled because of the chaos around the stadium. Although VfB had more possession of the ball, they did not manage to endanger the energetic defenders from Nuremberg. The Stuttgart actions lacked speed and ideas. Opportunities? First of all, no.

It wasn’t until the 27th minute that a sharp cross from Waldemar Anton put the club under some sort of distress. Hoeneß kept pushing his team on the sidelines – without success until the break. On the other side, the old master lurked in a gap. But at most a concealed shot by Fabian Nürnberger (6th) caused some excitement.

It was a tough cup fight for 50,000 fans in the sold-out Max Morlock Stadium in the first half. This hardly changed after the change, even though VfB had two big chances through Anton (50′) and especially Luca Pfeiffer (63′). Hoeneß brought in the long-injured goalscorer Serhou Guirassy. The VfB pressure was now increasing, but Peter Vindahl Jensen initially made two brilliant saves against Guirassy. The FCN goalkeeper was then knocked over by Millot.