Arminia Bielefeld wins against Union Berlin and causes a big surprise in the second round of the DFB Cup. The third division club earned the victory with great fight and passion. Hoffenheim is also in the round of 16 – the DFB Cup at a glance.
Arminia Bielefeld knocked 1. FC Union Berlin out of the DFB Cup and destroyed the Köpenickers’ dream of the final in the capital early on. The Bundesliga team lost 0-2 (0-1) to the third division team in the second round. Coach Bo Svensson’s team, which has otherwise been so stable this season, was surprisingly vulnerable defensively and had no luck up front. Marius Wörl in the 12th minute and André Becker (71st) scored the goals for the outsiders.
Bielefeld played courageously and confidently from the start. Coach Mitch Kniat’s team certainly didn’t look underclass. Mael Corboz set a first degree a little too high. Then Union helped a lot with the Arminia leadership. Andras Schäfer – one of five new players in Berlin’s starting eleven – made a bad pass in the build-up. Wörl saw that guest goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow was well in front of his goal and lifted the ball over the keeper into the net from around 35 meters – a dream goal.
It took almost half an hour before Union appeared dangerous in front of the Arminia goal for the first time. But then there was a real crash: captain Rani Khedira hit the ball with full force against the crossbar.
The Berliners now improved a bit and were unlucky again shortly before the break. Schäfer hit the post and Arminia goalkeeper Jonas Kersken punched Danilho Doekhi’s follow-up attempt off the line.
Union now controlled the game and built up pressure. The guests established themselves in the Bielefeld half, but rarely came dangerously into the Arminia penalty area. The third division team defended passionately and repeatedly switched quickly when they won the ball. First Becker didn’t take advantage of a good chance, then the substitute striker made the Alm celebrate euphorically. Wörl prepared well and Becker scored to make it 2-0.
Dynamo Dresden – Darmstadt 2:3 nV
Third division team Dynamo Dresden missed another surprise and lost to Darmstadt 98 from the 2nd division 2:3 (0:0, 2:2) after extra time.
TSG Hoffenheim – 1. FC Nürnberg 2:1
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim put an end to 1. FC Nürnberg’s short streak of success and also moved into the round of 16. The Bundesliga club celebrated a narrow 2-1 (1-0) victory, which made things unnecessarily exciting for coach Pellegrino Matarazzo’s team. Haris Tabakovic gave the favorites the lead (27th minute) before Mahir Emreli equalized (47th). Arthur Chaves scored the winning goal with a header (72′).
Nuremberg, coached by World Cup record goalscorer Miroslav Klose, had recently won three times in a row in the 2nd Bundesliga, while Hoffenheim is still looking for consistency this season. Matarazzo, who has repeatedly come under criticism, must have been all the more pleased to have progressed.
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