1. FC Saarbrücken continues its miraculous cup journey and is sensationally in the semi-finals. The third division football club also duped Borussia Mönchengladbach in the rescheduled quarter-finals on Tuesday evening and moved into the round of the best four teams after a 2-1 (1-1) score.
The Saarlanders had previously eliminated FC Bayern Munich and Eintracht Frankfurt, among others. In the fifth cup semi-final in the club’s history, they will face second division club 1. FC Kaiserslautern on April 2nd. In front of 15,903 spectators in the sold-out Ludwigsparkstadion, Amine Naifi (11th) and in added time Kai Brünker (90th + 3) scored the goals for the outsider, who will receive a bonus of around 3.45 million euros for progressing.
The Saarlanders have already earned more than six million euros in the current competition and can continue to dream of cup success. Robin Hack initially gave the guests the lead in the eighth minute. The next opponent has already been decided: In the duel with second division club 1. FC Kaiserslautern on April 2nd (8:45 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the DFB Cup, on ARD and on Sky) the final ticket in Berlin is at stake.
The Saarbrücken fans sent their team into this game with an impressive choreography. However, in a lively opening quarter of an hour, the guests initially became dangerous. The Bundesliga club took the lead after just eight minutes. Marcel Gaus underestimated a ball that Gladbach’s Neuhaus played high to Franck Honorat and thus essentially initiated the Gladbach attack, which Hack successfully completed.
Towels from the ball kids
However, the Saarlanders were not impressed by this mood killer. The answer came just three minutes later from Naifi, who converted a rebound from Ko Itakura from almost 16 meters to equalize. Both teams started offensively, with Gladbach in particular repeatedly appearing dangerous in the penalty area of the third division club in the first half. In the 18th minute, Lukas Boeder saved on the line, then Hack had another chance for the guests to take the lead.
The longer the game lasted, the more the FCS withdrew. Gladbach had control of the ball, but without profiting from it. However, against increasingly defensive Saarbrücken, the dominant guests lacked ideas and penetration. Nothing changed after the break. The constant rain also made the opening of the game more difficult because the water was increasingly collecting on the grass and the ball was sometimes difficult to control.
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Before throw-ins, the ball had to be partially dried with towels handed out by the ball boys. In a duel that was now becoming more and more competitive, the spectators hardly saw any shots on goal or dangerous scenes – until the celebrated winning goal in stoppage time. “Mentally ill. We are a cup team. Was that a fight. We just chased the ball. That’s crazy,” said match winner Kai Brünker on ZDF: “Now we want to go to Berlin.”
