VfB Stuttgart had a lackluster victory against second division club Holstein Kiel in the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup. On Wednesday evening (February 4th) the defending champions won 3-0 (0-0) in Kiel.
Deniz Undav scored the opening goal (57th minute), Chris Führich followed up (89th), Atakan Karazor finally decided the game for the Bundesliga club (90th + 2), who visibly struggled for a long time in a tough game in sub-zero temperatures, but deserved to win in the end.
“It was a tough game. In my opinion we deserved to win, we had the clearer chances”said a frozen Deniv Undav and added: “I think the 3-0 result was too high.” Kiel goalkeeper Timon Weiner analyzed: “We had great chances and had two or three really good chances, but if you want to play a game like that, you have to put one of them in.”
Kiel starts with two good chances, then VfB responds
As expected, VfB began with ball dominance and established themselves directly in Kiel’s half of the game. But the Kiel team had the first big chance. After a break, Adrian Kapralik got away from all opponents on the right and into the penalty area, took a powerful shot, but was denied by Alexander Nübel (8th). Three minutes later, Kapralik’s teammate Andu Kelati also shot from a more promising and much more central position, but it went over the Stuttgart goal. VfB coach Sebastian Hoeneß was visibly dissatisfied with the gaps his team revealed in defense.
It took until the 19th minute before Chris Führich, after a strong combination with Undav on the left side of the attack, brought a dangerous shot towards the Kiel goal for the first time, but his low shot to the far corner went just wide. With Stuttgart’s next chance, it was Führich who set up for Undav and found his striker with a cross from the left, but Undav fell slightly behind and put the ball well over the crossbar.
VfB had now arrived in the game not only in terms of possession of the ball, but also in terms of chances. After almost half an hour, Kiel’s keeper Weiner showed some uncertainty when he received a cross, and then a shot from Bilal El Khannouss was just blocked.
A hare and Undav provide the biggest highlights
However, the hosts were far from completely out of the game; the Northern Lights remained a constant threat in the transition game with their pinpricks. As the game went on, the Bundesliga club’s dissatisfaction grew; El Khannouss received a yellow card shortly before half-time when he angrily shot a ball out of bounds against the boards. It was a first half that particularly pleased the Kiel fans; the second division team kept up well and unnerved the favorites.
However, the big show so far hasn’t been this Wednesday evening. Accordingly, the loudest cheer to date erupted in the stadium when a rabbit ran across the pitch during half-time, but understandably quickly left again given the icy temperatures and the quality of the game.
A rabbit runs across the field during half-time
The second half didn’t start off spectacularly either; Stuttgart were once again the more dangerous team. In the 57th minute, VfB rewarded themselves with a standard situation. A free kick cross from the left half of the field found Atakan Karazor, who headed it to Undav. The national player pushed him over the line out of the hustle and bustle. Holstein’s cup keeper Weiner was hit painfully by the striker’s foot after Undav’s finish, but the hit counted – and rightly so.
Führich’s counterattack and Karazor’s slapstick goal decide the game
The hosts were now forced to do a little more for their own offensive, but the new starting position on the pitch was not really visible for a long time. The Kiel team couldn’t find a gap against VfB, who were now a little deeper. In the 75th minute, El Khannouss narrowly missed the preliminary decision with a deflected shot. That almost took revenge, because within 30 seconds, new substitute Aldin Jakupovic had Kiel’s two best shots of the second half so far, but failed once against Nübel and aimed the second past the left (80th).
The equalizer was a bit in the cold northern air, Kiel coach Marcel Rapp used all substitution options and sent his team into the final offensive. That came to an abrupt end when Führich was perfectly sent off by Undav in the 89th minute during a counterattack against the hosts who had advanced far, and remained ice cold in front of Weiner, as befitting the weather. With a strange hit in which he fell on the ball after contact with Weiner and brought it over the line, Karazor made it 3-0 in stoppage time (90th + 2).
The Kiel team will meet Hannover 96 in the 2nd league on Sunday (February 8th), VfB Stuttgart will have a slightly shorter break and will travel north again to FC St. Pauli on Saturday (February 7th).
