Second division team 1. FC Nuremberg is through to the DFB Cup quarter-finals. The traditional club won against Fortuna Düsseldorf in a penalty shoot-out.
It was an absolute cup thriller on Wednesday evening at the Max Morlock Stadium. 1. FC Nuremberg met league rivals Fortuna Düsseldorf in the DFB Cup Round of 16 and looked like a sure loser for a long time. Dawid Kownacki gave the visitors from the state capital the lead in the first half with a header (33rd).
The struggling “Club” ran all out in the second half, but could only create a few scoring chances – until the 93rd minute. After a cross from Mats Møller Dæhli, Taylan Duman, who had been substituted in the 72nd minute, took the ball and circled the round leather with his weaker left foot into the corner for the late 1-1 equaliser. The ball was slightly deflected by Düsseldorf’s Christoph Klarer. The cheers among the 26,000 fans were great and Nuremberg fought their way into extra time thanks to Duman’s goal, in which nothing much happened.
In the penalty shoot-out, Duman underlined his status as match-winner and scored – although the visitors’ keeper Florian Kastenmaier saved his first attempt. The penalty had to be retaken, however, because Kastenmaier had moved off his line before taking the shot. That is forbidden. Nuremberg then converted every penalty kick, Jona Niemiec missed on Fortuna’s side, allowing FCN to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 2011.
For match-winner Duman, the cup success was also the personal end to his time of suffering. The offensive player, who trained with Düsseldorf in his youth, had been absent for over three months with a torn syndesmosis ligament and only celebrated his comeback against Fortuna.
The 25-year-old played his last competitive match in October 2022. Nuremberg’s number eight was correspondingly happy about his sense of achievement and progress: “That was a bit of a liberation blow. It’s a load off everyone’s mind. The last days and weeks were not so easy. That’s why we are all very happy. It couldn’t have been written more beautifully. I’ve been through a tough time of suffering and worked hard to get back on the pitch. “
When you come back from such a long injury break, you just want to be on the pitch and have positive energy. He gave that to the team today.
Markus Weinzierl.
His coach Markus Weinzierl was also happy for the “Man of the Match”. The former FC Schalke 04 coach – 50 competitive games, 76 points – stressed: “He has fun and gives full throttle every day. I knew he could decide a game with one action. He’s actually not ready yet and is a bit behind in training. When you come back from such a long injury break, you just want to be on the pitch and have positive energy. He gave that to the team.”
In addition to reaching the last eight, the 16th-placed team in the 2nd division can look forward to a whopping bonus of around €1.7 million – thanks to Taylan Duman.