BY OLIVER GRISS AND STEFAN MATZKE (PHOTO)
In the end, the Lions’ mix was able to shine again on Tuesday evening in Memmingen: They had cheated their way into the Toto Cup quarter-finals with a 2-1 win over the fifth-placed team in the Bavarian League, but the favorites repeatedly failed to deliver. The decisive goal was scored in stoppage time by the Austrian Fabian Schubert, who had just been substituted on, in front of 2,509 fans in the Memmingen Arena. A short time later, the striker was sent off again with a yellow-red card.
With this late victory, the Lions are now in the round of the last eight. They could now face their two third division rivals Ingolstadt (3:1 in Würzburg) or Haching (today in Deisenhofen). The match will take place on October 3rd.
Coach Agis Giannikis’ conclusion after the final whistle was as follows: “I am not satisfied with the second half. We were very slow in our play and fell back into old patterns. As a result, we made a lot of mistakes. It is clear that if you don’t score the second goal in a fight like that, it can always be dangerous. We played the counterattacks very sloppily. We should not have conceded a goal from a set piece. Overall, that was too little up until the goal was conceded – too little courage up front. But I am satisfied with the reaction after the 1:1, that the penalty shootout was avoided.” And that would probably have been just a gamble.
But Giannikís was positive: “We have now won two difficult games, against Ingolstadt and here in Memmingen. Now we are looking ahead to Dresden.” And Dynamo will demand everything from the Lions – one thing is clear: a performance like in Memmingen will not be enough to make a statement in front of the home crowd and to escape the relegation zone.
BFV President Christoph Kern: “That’s what we all want so much in the Toto Cup competition – games on a knife edge. Memmingen became more and more courageous after the break, rewarded themselves with the late equaliser and put the Lions on the brink of a penalty shootout. But then Sechzig put the finishing touches and secured their place in the quarter-finals.”
The Giannikis analysis in the YouTube video – click here!
