Borussia Monchengladbach advanced into the German Cup quarterfinals after Kouadio Kone’s last-gasp extra time winner defeated Wolfsburg 1-0 on Tuesday.
Monchengladbach made the better start into the encounter as Joe Scally unleashed a long-range hammer from 20 meters to come close with seven minutes played, reports Xinhua.
The Wolves created their first opportunity three minutes later after Aster Vranckx tested Gladbach goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas from the edge of the box.
It remained the only clear-cut chance for the remainder of the first half, as both defences were able to neutralize attacking actions within the midfield.
After the restart, spectators had to wait until the 71st minute to see more action on the pitch as Christopher Kramer chipped the ball from a tight angle into the arms of Wolfsburg keeper Koen Casteels.
The Wolves thought they had opened the scoring in the 86th minute, but Tiago Tomas’ strike was ruled offside. Wolfsburg remained on the front foot and should have taken the lead four minutes later, but Nicolas defused Jonas Wind’s dangerous header with a diving save.
Wind wasted another golden opportunity moments later after heading past the target from eight meters in the dying minutes.
Into extra time, Wolfsburg controlled proceedings but lacked in accuracy in front of goal, whereas Gladbach snatched the late winner through Kone, who finished the job following a counterattack in the 120th minute.
In the other matches, Kaiserslautern booked their berth in the next round after moving 2-0 past Nuremberg. Fortuna Dusseldorf came from behind to edge Magdeburg 2-1, while St. Pauli overpowered Homburg 4-1.
The following last-16 fixtures are scheduled for Wednesday: Saarbrucken host Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayer Leverkusen clash with Paderborn, Stuttgart entertain Borussia Dortmund and Hertha Berlin take on Hamburg.
20231206172624