The quarter-finals in the DFB Cup between FC St. Pauli and Fortuna Düsseldorf were hard to beat in terms of drama. It was a typical cup fight where in the end it all comes down to little things. In penalty shootouts, the luckier team often wins and that was the team with Fortuna in its name at Millerntor last night.
But the truth is that the boys in brown and white didn't have their best evening. But it is very sad when the goal conceded follows the same pattern as when the same teams played in the championship just a few days before. But on Saturday, FC St. Pauli were leading by two goals at the time they conceded, and last night it was 1-0 for Düsseldorf - without them having gotten in front of the goal in any significant way up to that point. And then something happens that requires a lot of effort for many teams - running against a deep defense. It wasn't until stoppage time in the first half that the brown and white team threw the 95 defense into disarray. That was simply not enough in the first 45 minutes.
There was more excitement in the second half and the penalty to equalize was completely justified. In extra time, cup goalkeeper Burchert was unable to hold on to the wet ball after a tricky touch-down, but who would allow Daferner to shoot so freely from 25m in the rain that had just started to fall?
St. Pauli threw everything forward in the second half of extra time and achieved the much celebrated equalizer with the very last ball in stoppage time. In the penalty shootout, Burchert gives the brown and white team an advantage, which Maurides cancels out.
Then comes the climax of drama: Marcel Hartel scored the last two penalties against Düsseldorf - on Saturday and yesterday. In the penalty shootout, as captain, he took on the responsibility of being the 5th shooter. He missed, but was allowed to repeat because Düsseldorf's goalkeeper Kastenmeier was wrong when he executed it. Hartel didn't take advantage of the chance. The last Düsseldorf shooter, Tzolis, seals St. Pauli's trophy.
Tim has very good words about how the evening went found at Millernton.
A few more words about the unsportsmanlike nature of the evening from Düsseldorf goalkeeping coach Christoph Semmler. During the penalty shootout, he went behind the goal and called Kastenmeier the corners. This was discovered first by the fans and then by the referee Stegemann, who sent the coach away. It's unclear to me why he didn't show a card - maybe a reader is a stickler and can say more...
