Fortuna Düsseldorf beat FC St. Pauli 4:3 on penalties in the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup. Joshua Quarshie made his debut – and was lucky.

Just three days after FC St. Pauli’s convincing 2:1 victory over Fortuna Düsseldorf in the 2nd Bundesliga, the two teams met again in the DFB Cup semi-final, this time at the Millerntor. Düsseldorf did much better at the second attempt, but still had to go to a penalty shoot-out to book their place in the semi-finals. Former RWE talent Joshua Quarshie was also involved just one day after his official debut in Düsseldorf.

However, the 19-year-old initially started on the bench. Düsseldorf got off to a much better start in Hamburg and conceded little to nothing defensively in the first half. Former Duisburg player Vincent Vermeij gave Fortuna a not undeserved lead after 38 minutes with a penalty. The striker had previously been personally fouled by Sascha Burchert, who is actually St. Pauli’s number two goalkeeper.

However, the second division leaders then stepped up the pace in the second half – and were also awarded a penalty. Ao Tanaka brought down Philipp Treu. Marcel Hartel took responsibility and slotted the ball into the left corner (60′).

Quarshie in luck

Both teams continued their efforts, but the game was not to be decided in normal time. Then came Quarshie’s moment. The young central defender came on for Jordy De Wijs in extra time. Just seven minutes later, however, he made a huge mistake. The youngster should have been able to clear a Maurides cross unchallenged, but played the ball into the feet of Hartel. St. Pauli’s playmaker took a shot from six meters out but – luckily for Quarshie – put the ball over the goal. The man who has scored 25 points in 22 games this season rarely misses a chance like that.

That would come back to haunt him a little later. Once again, St. Pauli’s goalkeeper played his part in conceding the goal. Burchert allowed a shot from distance by Christoph Daferner to bounce away. Tanaka, who had conceded the penalty in the second half, made amends for his mistake and poked the ball in to take the lead (99′).

In the second period of extra time, Quarshie was once again at the center of attention when Elias Saad caught him in the face with his foot as he attempted a bicycle kick. The 19-year-old had to be treated, but he pulled himself together and continued to defend against the onrushing hosts. In the first minute of stoppage time, however, the time had finally come: Danel Sinani’s cross found Carlo Boukhalfa, who headed home the celebrated 2:2.

Kastenmeier becomes a hero

And so it became dramatic. Daferner was the second shooter to fail for Fortunen and put his team at a disadvantage. But he could rely on his goalkeeper. Florian Kastenmeier first saved against St. Pauli’s fourth shooter Maurides to tie the game, then he was on hand again for shot number five against Hartel. However, the keeper had left the line too early. This gave St. Pauli’s playmaker a second chance – but he again failed to beat the goalkeeper.

Christos Tzolis was the fifth and final scorer and had Fortunen’s victory on his feet. The Greek remained ice-cold, converted with a cheeky panenka and ensured that Fortuna reached the cup semi-finals for the first time since 1996.

The match at a glance:

FC St. Pauli: Burchert – Wahl, Smith, Mets – Treu, Kemlein (74. Boukhalfa), Hartel, Ritzka (46. Saliakas) – Afolayan (99. Sinani), Eggestein (74. Maurides), Amenyido (46. Saad)

Fortuna Düsseldorf: Kastenmeier – Iyoha (11. Uchino), Hoffmann, de Wijs (91. Quarshie), Gavory – Engelhardt, Tanaka, Johannesson (91. Zimmermann), Klaus (86. Niemiec), Tzolis – Vermeij (68. Daferner)

Goals: 0:1 Vermeij (38., penalty), 1:1 Hartel (60., penalty), 1:2 Tanaka (99.), 2:2 Boukhalfa (120.+1)

Yellow cards: Burchert, Saliakas, Mets, Saad – Hoffmann

Yellow-Red Card: Hürzeler (Coach of St. Pauli, 120.)

Referee: Sascha Stegemann

Spectators: 29,546 (sold out)

Penalty shoot-out: 1:0 Smith, 1:1 Hoffmann, 2:1 Saad, Burchert (Düsseldorf) saves against Daferner, 3:1 Sinani, 3:2 Engelhardt, Kastenmeier (Düsseldorf) saves against Maurides, 3:3 Tanaka, Kastenmeier (Düsseldorf) saves against Hartel, 3:4 Tzolis