German Cup: Kaiserslautern 2-0 Saarbrücken©AFP
Kaiserslautern became the first non-Bundesliga team to reach the DFB-Pokal final since 2011 with a 2-0 victory over third-tier Saarbrücken on Tuesday. Hosts Saarbrücken were hoping to become the first third-division club in the competition’s history to lift the trophy, but failed to do so after goalkeeper Tim Schreiber made a costly mistake. Saarbrücken has knocked Bayern Munich, Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Monchengladbach out of the cup, but struggled against declining giants Kaiserslautern.
“It’s so painful,” Saarbrücken coach Rudiger Zier told ARD.
“We didn’t have to lose that game. We paid for a mistake.”
The Bundesliga 2 side will bid for a third title against Xabi Alonso’s unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen or Fortuna Dusseldorf in the final in Berlin on May 25 .
The last time a second-tier team reached the final was Duisburg 13 years ago, when they lost 0-5 to Schalke 04.
“We didn’t allow them to counterattack us. That’s why Bayern Munich failed here, that’s why Monchengladbach failed here,” Kaiserslautern coach Friedhelm Finkel said.
The best chance of the first half came when Kai Brunk headed narrowly wide for Saarbrücken shortly before the break.
But the visitors got on the scoresheet eight minutes into the second period when Marlon Little’s near-post header from Almamy Toure’s cross was blocked by Schreiber.
Saarbrücken’s cup final dreams were all but over with 15 minutes remaining when former Monaco defender Toure became the scorer, rising high to tap in Timoteus Puhatz’s free-kick. horn.
Brunk came close again late in the game for Saarbrücken, but they were unable to produce an exciting goal.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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