The fairytale continues! In the pouring rain, 1. FC Saarbrücken also knocked Borussia Mönchengladbach out of the DFB Cup at home and are through to the semi-finals!
After memorable victories against FC Bayern (2:1) and Eintracht Frankfurt (2:0), 1. FC Saarbrücken continued the DFB Cup fairytale from Ludwigspark on Tuesday evening.
In the rescheduled quarter-final – the match had originally been called off due to the unplayability of the pitch after heavy rain – the third-division club beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-1 in the pouring rain thanks to a last-minute goal.
In a very fast-paced opening phase with chances on both sides, Gladbach took an early lead. Marcel Gaus did not look good in a duel with Franck Honorat on the right wing. The Frenchman broke clear in the penalty area and set up Robin Hack, who followed up his brace in the derby against Cologne with a goal in the cup (8′).
However, the third division side were not shocked. Just three minutes later, Ko Itakura unfortunately deflected a pass at the feet of Amine Naifi. The Saarbrücken man shot from 18 meters and gave Moritz Nicolas in the Borussia goal no chance (11.).
Rocco Reitz had a great chance to put the visitors back in front quickly, but Bjarne Thoelke made up for his initial mistake at the last moment (14). FCS keeper Tim Schreiber was already beaten by Honorat’s shot from eight meters, but Lukas Boeder saved just before the line (18′) and Hack also missed the 2:1 – again after an assist from Honorat (21′).
The pitch gets deeper, the chances rarer
On the difficult pitch in Saarbrücken, which was raining once again, the game then became a little more disjointed. Gladbach took control of the game, Saarbrücken pulled back and took the 1:1 into the break
The game remained competitive after the break, but the puddles became deeper and it became harder and harder for Gladbach to put together a structured attacking play. Hack was unable to capitalize on a slip by Schreiber, who only managed to bend the ball onto the goal net from the edge of the penalty area (60′).
Otherwise, the Saarbrücken defense withstood Gladbach’s often unimaginative attacking efforts. Instead, FCS themselves became dangerous in stoppage time. Itakura first saved a shot from Boeder for a corner (90.+2), but the big moment was yet to come.
Brünker lets Ludwigspark celebrate
It was the third minute of stoppage time when substitute Fabio Di Michele Sanchez dribbled down the left wing and crossed the ball into the Gladbach half, which was under water, at the level of the penalty area. There, the ball slipped through to the second post, where Kai Brünker ran in and finished coolly from 15 meters to give Gladbach a 2:1 lead.
Less than two minutes later, the final whistle sounded, causing ecstasy in the Ludwigsparkstadion. The Saarbrücken side continued their fairytale and joined 1. FC Kaiserslautern, Fortuna Düsseldorf and Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the cup semi-finals. In addition to a shower of money, FCS can also look forward to a derby. On Tuesday, April 2 (8:45 p.m.), the semi-final will be played at home against 1. FC Kaiserslautern.