Celebrations in Cologne, as VfL Wolfsburg claim the DFB-Cup trophy for a fifth time. It was the Green-Whites fourth consecutive domestic cup triumph, as the Lady-Wolves remain undefeated in the DFB-Cup since 2014. In a nail-biting cup final clash, the tie went over the full 120 minutes and on into a penalty shoot-out, where VfL goalkeeper Almuth Schult saved two spot-kicks and Caroline Hansen slotted home the decisive penalty to make the final score 3-2 (0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 0-0). The cup final actions continues almost immediately for the Lady-Wolves. On Thursday, May 24th, the Green-Whites face Olympique Lyon in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final in Kiev (kick-off 18:00 CEST).
Extra-time: Tension, but goal-less
With the score-line poised at 0-0 after ninety minutes, the tie was forced into extra-time. During the addition half-hour, both sides visibly drained of energy, which however had little impact on the incredible tension, as every attempted attack was greeted by raucous approval from the spectators in the RheinEnergieSTADION. Both sides were focused greatly on not making the decisive error, ultimately leading to extra-time being completed without clear chances at either end. The best opportunity fell to Munich’s Mandy Islacker, who fired over a loose ball from the edge of the box, after Schult had initially punched clear.
Hansen and Schult prove decisive
In the subsequent penalty shoot-out, both goalkeepers ultimately impressed. Schult denied both Melanie Behringer and Lucie Vonkova, whilst Zinsberger made saves from Zsanett Jakabfi and Ella Masar. With FCB’s Kristin Demann firing against the underside of the crossbar, the responsibility to decide the destination of the trophy fell to Hansen, who made no mistake an initiated the VfL celebrations.
VfL Wolfsburg: Schult – Blässe (66' Kerschowski), Fischer, Goeßling, Maritz – Gunnarsdottir, Neto (91' Wedemeyer) – Hansen, Harder, Dickenmann (106' Jakabfi) - Pajor (118' Masar)
FC Bayern Munich: Zinsberger – Maier, Wenninger, Demann, Faißt – Däbritz (102' Islacker), Behringer, Leupolz (99' Laudehr), Rolfö – Roord (64' Skorvankova), Rolser (113' Vonkova)
Yellow cards: Maritz, Gunnarsdottir, Wedemeyer, Jakabfi / Skorvankova, Maier
Goals: -
Penalty shoot-out: 0-0 Schult saves from Behringer, 1-0 Kerschowski scores, 1-0 Demann misses, 1-0 Zinsberger saves from Jakabfi, 1-1 Islacker scores, 1-1 Zinsberger saves from Masar, 1-1 Schult saves from Vonkova, 2-1 Harder scores, 2-2 Laudehr scores, 3-2 Hansen scores
Attendance: 17,692 on Saturday afternoon in Cologne’s RheinEnergieSTADION
Referee: Sandra Stolz (Pritzwalk)
