Ruthless Stuttgart beats Arminia Bielefeld 4-2 in German Cup final
Ruthless Stuttgart beats Arminia Bielefeld 4-2 in German Cup final
BERLIN — Four mistakes, four goals.
Stuttgart ruthlessly capitalized on errors in Arminia Bielefeld’s defense to win the German Cup with a 4-2 victory in the final on Saturday.
Enzo Millot scored twice and Germany forwards Nick Woltemade and Deniz Undav got the others as Stuttgart claimed its fourth German Cup win and the first since 1997.
Bielefeld, the third-division champion, was playing in the final for the first time as only the fourth representative from that division to ever reach German soccer’s end-of-season showpiece.
But there was no fairytale ending for the team’s American captain, Mael Corboz, after he helped it knock out defending champion Bayer Leverkusen in the semifinals and a host of Bundesliga clubs en route to the final.
Substitute Julian Kania scored a late consolation goal, a minute before Josha Vagnoman’s own goal, to get the Bielefeld fans singing again before the end.
Both sets of supporters displayed huge choreographies before the match in front of 74,000 spectators at Berlin’s Olympiastadion, where they repeatedly ignored appeals to stop setting off pyrotechnics.
The Stuttgart players and coach Sebastian Hoeneß ran to their supporters after the final whistle to be feted with more flares and fireworks in front of masked ultras.
The cup win comes after Hoeneß led Stuttgart to second place in the Bundesliga last season. This season was complicated by Champions League participation. The team lost a club-record six home Bundesliga games in a row, but finished the season strongly with three straight wins.
Stuttgart was given a boost before the final when Germany midfielder Angelo Stiller returned after two weeks out with an ankle injury.
Stiller set up two goals as Stuttgart raced into a 3-0 lead inside the first half hour. All three goals came with Stuttgart pouncing on mistakes, with Stiller sending Woltemade on his way for the opener.
Bielefeld’s supporters consoled themselves by lighting flares, while their counterparts used the pyrotechnics to celebrate.
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