Soccer - Next cup coup: Saarbrücken dupe Frankfurt
Favourite shocker 1. FC Saarbrücken has landed the next cup coup and, after record champions Bayern Munich, also knocked last year's finalists Eintracht Frankfurt out of the competition. The third-division club beat the Conference League side 2:0 (0:0) in the round of 16 tie on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals for the ninth time in the club's history.
In front of 15,903 spectators in the sold-out Ludwigsparkstadion, Kai Brünker in the 64th minute and Luca Kerber (78th) scored the goals for the underdogs, who will receive a bonus of around 1.7 million euros for advancing. This means that the Saarlanders have already earned more than three million euros in the current competition. In addition to losing the game, the disappointing Eintracht also lost Noel Futkeu, who was shown the red card after an assault (83').
As expected, the visitors had more possession at the start, but could do little with it. The Hessians, who had made four changes from the recent 2-1 draw in Augsburg, were far too imprecise in attack and posed no threat whatsoever.
After a quarter of an hour, the underdogs cast off their restraint and initiated their first offensive actions, in which the Eintracht defense revealed some weaknesses. After national goalkeeper Kevin Trapp's clearance was too short, Kerber had the lead on his feet but poked the ball just wide of the post from a scramble.
Shortly afterwards, the committed home side were celebrating when Brünker scored with a header. However, according to the TV pictures, referee Daniel Siebert annulled the goal due to a previous foul on Frankfurt's defensive boss Robin Koch.
Saarbrücken were not impressed by the dampener and were now the better team. There was no sign of a two-tier difference. On the contrary: the Saarlanders played boldly forward and put the favorites under pressure.
The disappointing visitors took their first shot on goal after 37 minutes. However, Niels Nkounkou's attempt posed no problems for FCS goalkeeper Tim Schreiber. The break-time draw was even a little fortunate for the Bundesliga club, as Brünker missed another good opportunity for the third division side.
After the changeover, Frankfurt seemed to get a better grip on the game. Substitute Aurelio Buta had the best chance of the game so far, but his shot from close range only hit the crossbar.
A short time later, Saarbrücken struck coldly. Goalkeeper Schreiber sent the ball wide into the Frankfurt penalty area, where Brünker headed in a header from his strike partner Amine Naifi. Trapp was powerless against the low shot. When Kerber scored to make it 2:0, the next cup sensation was perfect.
Match schedule DFB Cup squad Eintracht Frankfurt squad 1. FC Saarbrücken
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Source: www.stern.de
