VfB Stuttgart defeats SC Freiburg and reaches DFB Cup final

DFC Bayern Munich will face VfB Stuttgart in the final of the DFB Cup on May 23rd in Berlin. In the home game against SC Freiburg, the defending champions won 2-1 (1-1) after extra time. The winning goal in the 119th minute was scored by the previously relatively inconspicuous Tiago Tomas, who had come on as a substitute at the start of extra time and, shortly before the end of extra time, was celebrated shirtless and with a corner flag in his outstretched hand by the Stuttgart fans and all his teammates.

He used his heel to volley a cross from Baredine Bouanani. Bouanani had also been pretty inconspicuous up to that point, but you really couldn’t blame him for that. He had only been substituted a few seconds earlier.

This late winning goal was the highlight of a fast-paced football game, the winner of which was ultimately fully deserved by VfB Stuttgart.

Julian Nagelsmann is also sitting in the stadium and sees Deniz Undav scoring

The Stuttgart fan curve was already glowing red as the teams arrived, before the smoke from the pyroflares spread through the rest of the arena and delayed the kick-off by a good three minutes. The scenes that no one wants to see in a football stadium were yet to come.

In the first 20 minutes, neither team had a serious chance to score, but the players on the pitch were constantly kicking, pushing and complaining. Referee Tobias Welz, who could not be blamed, handed out four yellow cards.

It was fitting for this previously poor football game that SC Freiburg took the lead after just under half an hour thanks to strong help from Stuttgart: Standing about 35 meters in front of their own goal, Angelo Stiller unchallengedly played a back pass that was impossible for his goalkeeper Alexander Nübel to reach. Vincenzo Grifo hit the following corner on the head of Nikolas Nartey. Mind you, he plays for VfB Stuttgart, but he accidentally passed the ball on to Matthias Ginter, whose assist was converted by Maximilian Eggestein to take the lead.

Before the game, VfB coach Sebastian Hoeneß, when asked about Freiburg’s offensive standard strength, emphasized how strong his team was in defending the so-called idle balls. Well, yes.

But Stuttgart, and with it this football game, got better; a little in the last five minutes of the first half, but especially after the break. Right-back Jamie Leweling in particular repeatedly caused problems for Freiburg. But after his storm runs and crosses, his teammates in the penalty area failed again and again in the comparatively easy task of shooting the ball into the goal. And when Stiller finally managed to do so from 20 meters after 60 minutes, Welz rightly ruled the ball offside.

The deserved equalizer came ten minutes later, in the 70th minute. In front of national coach Julian Nagelsmann in the stands, Deniz Undav, who had been in the starting line-up, completed a counterattack with his typical nonchalance. Without too much force, but with a lot of precision and feeling, he stroked the ball into the Freiburg goal from twelve meters. What was bitter for the SC was not only that they were countered when they were in the lead in the opposing stadium, but also that the Stuttgart counterattack was preceded by by far the best chance of making it 2-0. But Nübel parried strongly.

On the one hand, the fact that the game went into extra time was good news, because an additional 30 minutes of football was a reasonable compensation for those first 20 minutes, which had so little to do with football. On the other hand, Undav alone – presumably still in front of the national coach’s eyes – could have scored three more goals between the 80th minute and the final whistle of regular time. If you were mean, you could say: He forgave her with his characteristic nonchalance. A little more power might have benefited the shot in the fourth minute of stoppage time.

In extra time, however, Undav was definitely absolved of any guilt. Twice, before his substitution after 118 minutes, he prepared a goal-scoring opportunity as well as one can prepare a goal-scoring opportunity. But Chris Führich hit the post and Bilal El Khannouss, who had been extremely keen to play since his substitution in the 63rd minute, was denied by Freiburg goalkeeper Florian Müller after a one-two with Undav.

After an unfortunate referee whistle at the beginning of extra time – a goal from Lucas Höler was disallowed due to alleged foul play – Müller’s front men stopped trying to score a winning goal. Freiburg wanted to go to penalties. But they didn’t get that far.

And the fans of VfB Stuttgart let the noise level rise immeasurably after Tiago Tomas’s winning goal. They even had a pyroflach left over to celebrate the second DFB Cup final in a row.