News (engl.)

Two more teams have secured their place in the last eight of the DFB-Pokal. Holders VfB Stuttgart came through a tricky trip to second-tier VfL Bochum with a 2-0 win, while SC Freiburg also moved into the quarter-finals thanks to a 2-0 victory over 2. Bundesliga side SV Darmstadt 98.

VfB take control after red card

It was Bochum who carved out the first chance of the evening at the Ruhrstadion. Kjell Wätjen burst into the box from the left, skipped past Lorenz Assignon and fired from a tight angle, but Jeff Chabot blocked bravely with his head inside the six-yard area (7’). Stuttgart then took the lead with their first dangerous moment, when Ramon Hendriks’ long throw was flicked on by VfL’s Philipp Strompf, whose header looped over Timo Horn and into his own net (12’).

The second-tier side continued to show ambition going forward. Farid Alfa-Ruprecht tried to lob Fabian Bredlow from around 25 yards, only to see his effort drift narrowly wide (30’). Soon after, the ball broke to Francis Onyeka inside the area, but the Leverkusen loanee sent his shot well off target from close range.

The match turned decisively just before the break. Strompf miscontrolled the ball, stretched to recover it and bundled into Deniz Undav. After reviewing the incident, referee Florian Badstübner showed a straight red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity (45+1’). Within two minutes of the restart, Undav doubled Stuttgart’s lead, guiding a Jamie Leweling cross into the far corner with a precise header (47’).

Bochum, now a man down, dropped deeper and focused on protecting their goal. Stuttgart eased off and no longer pushed hard for a third, leaving the second half largely devoid of major chances. The holders saw out a controlled 2-0 away win to seal their place in the quarter-finals.

Grifo instrumental as Freiburg advance

Freiburg and Darmstadt cancelled each other out in the early stages, with both sides failing to turn promising counterattacks into clear chances. The visitors then created the first big opportunity: after Max Rosenfelder’s headed flick, Matthias Bader reacted quickest and struck on the turn, only for Florian Müller to tip the ball brilliantly over the bar (27’). At the other end, Darmstadt keeper Marcel Schuhen produced an excellent save to deny Johan Manzambi (40’).

The breakthrough arrived shortly before the interval. Vincenzo Grifo stepped up after Patric Pfeiffer had fouled Manzambi in the box and powered his penalty high into the top corner, giving Schuhen no chance (42’).

Chances initially remained scarce after the restart, but the next clear opening resulted in Freiburg’s second goal. Grifo slid a perfectly weighted pass into the path of Lucas Höler, who stayed composed and finished past Schuhen to make it 2-0 (69’). Darmstadt’s best chance to pull one back fell to Matej Maglica, whose powerful header from a corner was pushed wide by Müller (76’).

Freiburg were awarded a second penalty late on when Junior Adamu was brought down. Grifo again went for the top corner, but this time his fierce strike rattled the crossbar (84’). Darmstadt’s evening worsened when Maglica received a second yellow card for a foul on Adamu (88’), and despite a late spell of set-piece pressure, they could not change the outcome. Freiburg held firm to secure their place in the quarter-finals.