Union Berlin beat St. Pauli to succeed in German Cup semifinals

Two defensive slip-ups handed Union Berlin a spot within the semifinals of the German Cup for the primary time in 21 years with a 2-1 win over second-division St. Pauli on Tuesday.

St. Pauli took the lead within the twenty first minute with a sensible free-kick routine when Marcel Hartel laid the ball off for Daniel-Kofi Kyereh to hit a low shot previous the wall and into the bottom-right nook. St. Pauli confirmed resilience in its largest cup recreation for 16 years however couldn’t maintain on as Union reached the semifinals for the primary time because it was the cup runner-up in 2001.

Goalkeeper Dennis Smarsch misplaced his stability as he rushed out to face Taiwo Awoniyi one-on-one, and that hesitation meant he may solely parry Awoniyi’s shot into the trail of Union striker Sheraldo Becker, who scored into the empty web simply earlier than halftime.

A hopeful lengthy cross introduced Union the winner as St. Pauli defender Jakov Medic reached the ball first however slipped beneath strain from substitute Andreas Voglsammer, who gratefully collected the free ball and shot previous Smarsch.

Voglsammer hit the submit in stoppage time as he regarded to kill off the sport with solely the goalkeeper to beat.

With Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund each having been knocked out within the early rounds, this 12 months’s German Cup gives an opportunity for smaller golf equipment to win a trophy. Leipzig is in motion Wednesday in its quarterfinal recreation towards Hannover, whereas Freiburg visits Bochum and Hamburg performs Karlsruhe.