Quarter-finals here we come!

Freak own goal

The last-16 fixture could not have started any worse from a VfB perspective, as Konstantinos Mavropanos scored a long-range own goal as early as the fourth minute. His attempted back pass to Florian Müller from 40 metres out was not precise enough and the ball ended up bouncing into the net.

Bruno Labbadia’s charges subsequently went in search of a response. Serhou Guirassy’s free-kick was saved by Jannik Huth (10′) before Atakan Karazor’s effort from the edge of the penalty area narrowly curled past the post (12′). Paderborn managed to close the gaps through the middle thereafter and VfB struggled to carve out any more chances before the interval.

Turnaround

The flow of the match remained the same after the restart, with VfB dominating possession, albeit without the necessary creative spark, and the home side defending tirelessly. In fact, Paderborn went close to making it 2-0 when Felix Platte’s shot whizzed past the far post following a corner on 70 minutes.

Guirassy could have equalised a short while later but he skewed his effort over the bar (77′). Nevertheless, VfB did eventually pull level through new signing Gil Dias, who cut inside from the right and struck a powerful shot into the far corner (86′). Labbadia’s men continued to pile on the pressure, earning their 17^th corner of the game during stoppage time, and it was from Pascal Stenzel’s delivery into the middle that Guirassy headed in the winner (90’+5), turning the game on its head late on and sending VfB into the DFB Cup quarter-finals.

Goals:

4′ minute (1-0): Following a throw-in Mavropanos plays the ball back to Müller, but his wayward pass ends up in his own net.

86′ minute (1-1): Dias cuts inside and fires in the equaliser.

90’+5. Minute (1-2): Guirassy heads in the decider from a corner.

Reaction

VfB head coach Bruno Labbadia: “It was tough to play against a team that defended with a lot of passion. In the first half we didn’t make the most of the space they gave us. We were lacking the final ball and sometimes our movement patterns weren’t the best. However, I was pleased that we stayed patient. Our positioning was good, but we lacked the precision you need against a team defending as tightly as they were. We wanted to reach the quarter-finals and we did so, which we’re happy about.”

Florian Müller: “It’s an important win for us. We were the better team, even if the final pass we needed to seriously threaten them was missing a lot of the time. At half-time we said that we’d stick together and turn the game around.”