What a cup night in Braunschweig! VfB Stuttgart prevailed against second division Eintracht Braunschweig only in a penalty shootout, looking elimination in the face multiple times. After 120 nerve-wracking minutes and a 2:2 draw, the decision had to be made from the spot.
The Braunschweig team showed from the beginning that they wanted to make life difficult for the vice-champion. In front of 23,750 spectators in the sold-out Eintracht Stadium, the home team even took the lead through Rayan Philippe (11th minute). VfB looked impressed, but found their way back into the game through El Bilal Touré (45.+1). Braunschweig’s Jannis Nikolaou once again gave Eintracht the lead shortly after the break (48.), but Enzo Millot saved the Swabians with his equalizer (66.) to force extra time.
«We made life unnecessarily difficult for ourselves today,» admitted VfB coach Sebastian Hoeneß after the game. «But in such cup games, it’s only about advancing in the end, no matter how.» And the Stuttgart team did indeed advance – albeit in dramatic fashion. In the penalty shootout, goalkeeper Alexander Nübel became the hero when he saved Nikolaou’s decisive attempt.
For Braunschweig, the bitter realization remains that they were more than equal to a top Bundesliga team. «We can be proud of our performance,» said Eintracht coach Daniel Scherning. «Today you saw that anything is always possible in the cup.»
The Stuttgart team can breathe a sigh of relief after this feat of strength. In the coming round, they want to forget the bumpy start – with less drama, but the same result: advancement.