In another continuous rain in Saarland, third division football team 1. FC Saarbrücken prevailed against Borussia Mönchengladbach and is sensationally in the semi-finals of the DFB Cup. Saarbrücken won 2-1 (1-1) on Tuesday (March 12, 2024) thanks to a goal in injury time.
Saarbrücken will face 1. FC Kaiserslautern at home in the semi-finals on April 2nd. The next day, the only Bundesliga team Bayer Leverkusen welcomes the second division team Fortuna Düsseldorf.
Saarbrücken scores in stoppage time
Again, heavy rain and wet grass played an important role in Saarland. After the original game was canceled due to rain in February, both teams benefited from the pitch conditions. First, after a mistake by Marcel Gaus, Franck Honorat served his Gladbach colleague Robin Hack, who put the guests in front (8th minute).
But almost with the counter move, Saarbrücken’s Amine Naifi was a bit lucky to stay on the ball and then sank it with a striking long-range shot into the Gladbach box (11th). In the final phase, Kai Brünker refined his fighting performance to score the acclaimed winning goal in Ludwigspark (90th +3).
Saabrücken’s Brünker: “Semi-finals sound insane”
“Semi-finals – that sounds insane,” said a stunned Brünker on ZDF, “fuck, that was a fight. Gladbach did very well on the pitch. But we are such mentality monsters!”
The Saarlanders are in the semi-finals for the second time in four years and for the fifth time ever. As a third division team, Saarbrücken has home advantage against the higher-class 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the semi-finals on April 2nd.
Saarbrücken’s coach Rüdiger Ziehl said: “It was a very, very hard piece of work. It was a very wild game. In the second half we had very little relief – absolutely crazy.”
Deep disappointment at Mönchengladbach
There was deep disappointment on the Gladbach side. Captain Julian Weigl said in dismay: “We have to score at least two, if not three goals in the first half. We were the more dominant team, but we can’t let ourselves be countered in the 90th minute.”
And he added: “We have just noticed that the cup is very important to our fans. We are brutally disappointed, it’s a hard blow.” For his coach Gerardo Seoane it was a “used day”,
Striker Jordan racially insulted via Instagram – Gladbach takes a stand
Striker Jordan was racially insulted via Instagram after the defeat. The American shared a screenshot of the corresponding message via Instagram on Wednesday, and his club also went public with a message.
“Disappointment and criticism are understandable reactions to a lost football game. Hatred, insults and racism are not and never will be!”, the Gladbachers wrote on social media: “We resolutely oppose discrimination and exclusion in any form. The entire foal family stands to you, Jordan!”
Early Mönchengladbach tour
From the start, both teams played forward – driven by the hope of one or two “slips” on the part of their opponents. In addition to the slippery ground conditions, the newly laid turf in Saarbrücken’s Ludwigspark compressed in many places under the game’s steps and caused additional stability problems.
The Gladbachers took advantage of their first chance: Gaus misjudged a ball when the ball didn’t jump up as usual. Honorat splashed the ball and sprinted to the baseline at top speed. Hack waited in the backcourt, was served perfectly and converted, placed low on the left, to take the lead.
Just two minutes later, the home team forced an equalizer: With a bit of luck, Naifi kept the ball on a counterattack and shot irresistibly from a central position. Moritz Nicolas in the Gladbacher Fohlen goal stretched but had no chance.
After 15 minutes: Gladbach turns up the heat
As a result, the Bundesliga club turned up the heat and had a number of the best chances to score. But with the luck of the brave, the Saarbrücken team prevented them from falling behind again. The FCS clearly fell behind, but still stayed in the game. And out of nowhere, Naifi almost gave the hosts the lead (40th).
As soon as the second half started, the blue-blacks finished again. The hard-working Brünker wanted to capitalize on Patrick Sontheimer’s cross from the left with his head, but was decisively disrupted by the “Fohlen” defense (47′).
Hard work on the soft ground
As the ground became increasingly deeper, both teams found it increasingly difficult to put together orderly moves. Again and again the ball remained in puddles or simply stopped too early. Borussia coach Seoane let his team act more offensively in the final phase of regular time, but Saarbrücken held on.
Gladbach’s Rocco Reitz in a duel with Saarbrücken’s Bjarne Thoelke.
However, the third division team increasingly lacked the strength to create good scoring chances of their own. But then the counterattack that made Saarbrücken celebrate: Brünker used a pass from Fabio Di Michele Sanchez from around eleven meters.
After the cup successes against Karlsruher SC (2nd Bundesliga) and the first division clubs Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayern Munich, feelings of happiness are once again flooding the entire Saarland.