Great joy at VfL Bochum: The second-division club advanced to the Round of 16 of the DFB Cup with a 1-0 victory over Bundesliga side FC Augsburg.
The coaching change at VfL Bochum is having a truly positive effect. Under Uwe Rösler, the team pulled off a cup upset in Augsburg. A quick counterattack led to the 1-0 victory.
Gerrit Holtmann emerged as the cup hero. The attacking player scored the goal of the night in the 39th minute with a deflected shot. “The goal was the result of a lightning-fast play,” said the winger, who was named Man of the Match, referring to the VfL’s rapid counterattack. In the round of 16, however, Holtmann hopes for “not Bayern, not Dortmund,” but simply “a home game.” VfL now aims to continue making waves in the DFB Cup.
Holtmann added: “It was a really, really awesome cup night. We’re also very happy that we won without conceding a goal. In the cup, it’s all about winning by any means necessary, and that’s what we did. Especially when you consider our situation—we’re through to the next round, and that’s what counts. It went back and forth. Timo Horn is in sensational form right now; we need him in every way. We could have decided the game early today, but we still have things to work on. The composure with which our young players, in particular, performed today was impressive. It was really fun playing with those guys up front.”
Timo Horn was a strong pillar of support for Uwe Rösler’s team this time. The goalkeeper was, of course, also delighted with the spot in the Round of 16.
“Keeping a clean sheet tonight was special. We haven’t done that in a long time. I think we played a very, very good game for long stretches. We didn’t have to make it so nail-biting toward the end. I would have preferred it if Momo had converted that chance. But in a moment like that, a thousand thoughts surely go through your head. So it was a nail-biter toward the end, but apart from one or two situations, we defended everything off and gave it our all. It was a great away game for us, and we absolutely deserved to advance. That’s the path we need to take—developing players. We have some promising young players in our ranks.”