News (engl.)

Defending champions VfB Stuttgart are into the DFB-Pokal semi-finals for the third time in the past four years. Sebastian Hoeneß’s side won 3-0 away at second-division Holstein Kiel, despite struggling early on. The home side missed out on what would have been only a third semi-final appearance in the club’s history, having previously reached the last four in 1941 and 2021. Deniz Undav set his side on their way to victory by opening the scoring in the 56th minute, before late goals from Chris Führich (90’) and Atakan Karazor (90+2’) sealed Stuttgart’s spot in the semi-finals. They join Bayer Leverkusen as the second side to reach the penultimate stage of the competition, after they beat FC St. Pauli 3-0 on Tuesday.

Stuttgart with a cold start

In temperatures several degrees below freezing and with icy winds, the second-division side made the better start in front of just over 15,000 spectators. Kiel, who had already knocked Bundesliga sides VfL Wolfsburg and Hamburger SV out of the competition, quickly created two good chances against Stuttgart, who went into the game unbeaten in their last seven top-flight matches. Stuttgart’s goalkeeper Alexander Nübel was forced into a save early on to deny Adrian Kapralik after a quick counter-attack (8’), before Andu Kelati fired his effort over the bar three minutes later.

It took nearly 20 minutes for the visitors to gain some control over the game, after which they dominated possession and started to create more and more chances. The defending champions looked particularly dangerous when Chris Führich fizzed a low shot just past the post after 19 minutes. Undav then had a great chance, but couldn’t direct his header on target (25’). Kiel’s cup goalkeeper Timon Weiner then dropped a seemingly harmless cross, however his defence reacted quickly and managed to block Bilal El Khannouss’ effort just in time.

Undav rewards Stuttgart’s dominance

The away side began to look slightly less threatening, as the physically strong Kiel side closed them down aggressively in midfield, meaning the four-time Pokal winners created hardly anything for the remainder of the first half. Kiel themselves offered little going forward, and half time came with the score at 0-0.

Stuttgart carried on searching for gaps in the Kiel defence after the restart, while the hosts sat back and waited for opportunities to counter-attack. Leweling had an effort under pressure in the 54th minute, but dragged it wide. Two minutes later, the ball was finally in the back of the net. A deflected free kick fell to Undav, who poked it over Weiner from close range to open the scoring (56’).

The defending champions weren’t going to settle for just the one goal and looked to double their advantage. Kiel were forced to commit more players forward the longer the game went on, which in turn gave Stuttgart more space. Weiner then made two more saves to deny El Khannouss. Kiel began to take more risks down the other end and created a double chance, as Aldin Jakupovic forced Nübel into a save, before then firing the rebound wide from a great position (80’). The hosts threw everything forward in the closing stages, leading to a counter-attack led by Chris Führich, who rounded Weiner and calmly slotted home to seal the Stuttgart victory (90’). Karazor then added a third shortly before the final whistle (90+2’).