Third division soccer team Arminia Bielefeld also knocked SC Freiburg out of the DFB Cup. The East Westphalia team made it into the quarter-finals for the first time in eight years with a deserved 3-1 (2-0) win against the Bundesliga club. Arminia is the only club outside the two federal leagues that is still represented in the competition.
But first Bielefeld had to worry: Florent Muslija missed a penalty for the guests (18th). Then Christopher Lannert scored beautifully from a distance to take the lead (28th), goal scorer Julian Kania increased with a hand penalty (36th). Michael Gregoritsch gave Freiburg hope again after the break (63′), before Louis Oppie (81′) completed the surprise with another dream goal. In the parallel game, VfB Stuttgart confidently won 3-0 against Jahn Regensburg.
The Arminen played their home strength for 90 minutes in front of 26,311 spectators – only one game this season on the Alm was lost. In the first two rounds, the hosts, who have already been in the cup semi-finals three times this millennium, had already experienced magical cup nights against Hannover 96 (2-0) and Union Berlin (2-0).
In the run-up to the game, Arminia coach Mitch Kniat had demanded that “every individual is on their game”. This also applies to the fans, who fulfilled their mission with an impressive choreo – and encouraged their own team. The hosts threw themselves into the duels with high motivation.
But then the Arminen underestimated the Bundesliga club’s adept pressing: Gregoritsch won the ball, Maximilian Großer fouled him worthy of a penalty. But Muslija aimed into the middle, keeper Jonas Kersken stayed standing and also held the second ball. Freiburg’s horror series continues: The Breisgauers missed the last five penalties in the league. Euphoric, the Arminen continued to play forward and full-back Lannert made the East Westphalian fans go wild with his long-range goal. As soon as they had calmed down, there was a penalty for Bielefeld after a handball by Gregoritsch and video evidence: center forward Kania coolly converted – the quarter-finals and the associated bonus of more than 1.6 million euros were within reach.
SC coach Schuster substituted regular goalkeeper Noah Atubolu at half-time for Florian Müller, who was injured due to a hit to the head. The guests gained new courage and constantly ran against the best defense in the 3rd league. Gregoritsch caused tension with his goal, but Arminia remained focused and continued to set an offensive tone. Oppie made everything clear.
Bremen scores in the 94th minute
When former coach Florian Kohfeldt returned, Werder Bremen made it through to the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup with a lot of effort and thanks to a last-minute goal from Anthony Jung. The Bundesliga team won 1-0 (0-0) against lower-class SV Darmstadt 98 at home in the Weserstadion. Jung made the decision after a free kick from Marvin Ducksch in the fourth minute of stoppage time in front of 40,000 spectators.
“Better late than never,” said the 33-year-old goalscorer on Sky. The fans were already singing about the possible trip to the final in Berlin. “We dream big. It’s a knockout system, anything is possible. We saw that again today. Why not,” said Jung. “In the end we deserved our reward,” said Ducksch.
