Stoppage-time winner: Germany forward Undav rescues Stuttgart in Paderborn
VfB Stuttgart struggled for a long time in the DFB Cup at SC Paderborn. Then Deniz Undav struck in the 91st minute for a 1-0 win – and afterwards called the first half “abysmal”.
Archive image · Photo: Bryan Berlin / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
VfB Stuttgart are into the last 16 of the DFB Cup. Sebastian Hoeneß's side won 1-0 at second-division SC Paderborn on Wednesday evening. Germany international Deniz Undav scored the only goal in stoppage time (90+1) from a low cross by Chris Führich. Paderborn had been down to ten men since the 38th minute after a red card for Laurin Curda. Maximilian Mittelstädt hit the crossbar shortly before half-time, Jamie Leweling was booked and Angelo Stiller was substituted at the break.
Undav, who returned to the starting line-up, did not mince his words: “Our first half was abysmal, really abysmal,” he said, according to the Stuttgarter Zeitung. “But we said from the start that only the win counts, no matter how dirty it gets.” Hoeneß admitted: “We were lucky not to fall behind.” After the red card the game turned, he said, and the win was deserved in the end.
Stuttgart are back in Bundesliga action on Saturday at Bayer Leverkusen. Undav: “We have to put this behind us now and focus on Saturday's game in Leverkusen.” The DFB Cup round of 16 will be played on 1 and 2 December.