Fortuna Düsseldorf advanced to the quarterfinals of the DFB Cup with a 4-3 penalty shootout win over FC St. Pauli. Joshua Quarshie made his debut—and got lucky.
Just three days after FC St. Pauli’s convincing 2-1 win at Fortuna Düsseldorf in the 2nd Bundesliga, the two teams met again in the DFB Cup semi-finals, this time at the Millerntor. Düsseldorf did much better in their second attempt, but still had to go to penalties to secure their place in the semi-finals. Former RWE talent Joshua Quarshie was also in action just one day after his official presentation in Düsseldorf.
However, the 19-year-old started on the bench. Düsseldorf got off to a much better start in Hamburg and allowed little to no chances in the first half. Former Duisburg player Vincent Vermeij gave Fortuna a deserved lead in the 38th minute from the penalty spot. The striker had been fouled by Sascha Burchert, St. Pauli’s second-choice goalkeeper.
In the second half, however, the second division leaders picked up the pace – and were also awarded a penalty. Ao Tanaka brought Philipp Treu down. Marcel Hartel took responsibility and slotted the ball into the left corner (60′).
Quarshie in luck
Both teams kept pushing, but the decision was not to be made in regular time. Then Quarshie’s moment arrived. The young center back came on for Jordy De Wijs in extra time. However, just seven minutes later, he made a huge mistake. The youngster should have been able to clear a cross from Maurides unchallenged, but instead played the ball into the feet of Hartel. St. Pauli’s playmaker shot from six meters out, but fortunately for Quarshie, he put the ball over the goal. The man who has contributed 25 points in 22 games this season rarely misses such an opportunity.
This came back to haunt him a little later. Once again, St. Pauli’s goalkeeper had a hand in the goal. Burchert parried a saveable long-range shot from Christoph Daferner. Tanaka, who had conceded the penalty in the second half, made amends for his mistake and poked the ball home to give his side a celebrated lead (99′).
In the second half of extra time, Quarshie was once again in the spotlight when Elias Saad caught him in the face with his foot while attempting an overhead kick. The 19-year-old had to receive treatment but picked himself up and continued to fight against the onrushing hosts. In the first minute of stoppage time, however, the moment finally arrived: Danel Sinani found Carlo Boukhalfa with his cross, who headed home the celebrated equalizer to make it 2-2.
Kastenmeier becomes the hero
That’s how dramatic it got. Daferner was the second Fortuna player to miss, putting his team at a disadvantage. But his goalkeeper was reliable. Florian Kastenmeier first saved St. Pauli’s fourth penalty taker Maurides to keep the score level, then he was on hand again for Hartel’s fifth shot. However, the keeper had left his line too early. This gave St. Pauli’s playmaker a second chance – but he failed to beat the goalkeeper again.
As the fifth and final penalty taker, Christos Tzolis had the chance to secure victory for Fortuna. The Greek remained cool, cheekily converted with a Panenka and ensured that Fortuna reached the cup semi-finals for the first time since 1996.
The game 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, pen.), 1-1 Hartel (60, pen.), 1-2 Tanaka (99), 2-2 Boukhalfa (120+1)
Yellow cards: Burchert, Saliakas, Mets, Saad – Hoffmann
Yellow-red card: Hürzeler (St. Pauli coach, 120.)
Referee: Sascha Stegemann
Attendance: 29,546 (sold out)
Penalty shootout: 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