A record-breaking own goal, a fantastic debut for the new signing – and in the end the first win under Bruno Labbadia: VfB Stuttgart prevailed in a wild round of 16 of the DFB Cup 2-1 (0-1) at second division SC Paderborn and is standing for the first time in the last eight for seven years. Labbadia was able to celebrate the first win in his second term as VfB coach.
New signing Gil Dias with his first shot on goal for Stuttgart (86′) and Serhou Guirassy (90′ + 5′) turned the game in favor of Stuttgart after defender Konstantinos Mavropanos (4′) had put the guests almost grotesquely behind: From 48, 1 meters, a return for goalkeeper Florian Müller was too sharp – an own goal from a greater distance had never been scored in the DFB Cup.
For coach Labbadia, who started with two draws and one defeat after his VfB comeback in winter, the first success takes some pressure off. Paderborn, who had kicked Werder Bremen out of the cup in the second round, were only a few minutes away from another coup. Coach Lukas Kwasniok had previously hoped for a “magical night” in front of his own audience.
And right after the game started, really supernatural powers seemed to be at play. Quite unchallenged, Mavropanos decided to play his back pass without first looking towards the goal. Müller struggled in vain, and Stuttgart ran behind a deficit. As a result, the favorite had a firm grip on the game without becoming compelling. At the break there was a curious statistic: 8:0 shots on goal for VfB, Paderborn didn’t need any for the lead.
Labbadia responded, bringing on new signing Genki Haraguchi in the second half. Stuttgart also played with the Japanese national player, who came from Union Berlin, and was clearly leading in all important statistics – it was still not really dangerous for Paderborn. On the contrary, the second division side had the greatest chance of the game after 70 minutes. Felix Platte put the ball free over the goal. Only the substitute Dias brought breakthrough power for Stuttgart – and the game tipped over.