Analysis of the Cup Fight

It is not easy to highlight a single scene after this spectacular cup evening. But Isac Lidberg’s goal to make it 3-2 in the 98th minute of the game impressively showed what morale and mentality the Lilies displayed in the cauldron of „Rudolf Harbig Stadium“. The South Hesse team had led twice in regular time, and both times the hosts had equalised the deficit. The 2-2, which led to the subsequent extra time, came in the 101st minute, more than two minutes after the end of the already generous eight minutes of added time. But SV 98, in the shape of Lidberg, had the right answer to this blow in the neck, as goalkeeper Marcel Schuhen also emphasised: „After the 2-2 score, the curve behind me completely exploded. And then it was about how we continued to play. That was really good. We scored the third goal and then allowed relatively little.“

The goal itself was symbolic of the attributes that paved the way for the Darmstadt team into the next round. With willpower and conviction, Guille Bueno started a run into the opponent’s half and remained stable on his feet despite the energetic physical use of his opponent, then served Philipp Förster, who was running along, who penetrated the penalty area and thus made Lidberg’s goal possible . “Our goal in extra time was a bit of a mood killer,” explained Schuhen, referring to the ultimately decisive action, which reduced the enormous noise level around the stadium by at least a few decibels.

Cup fight accepted: „It’s not easy to survive in this cauldron. But we are very happy that we succeeded,“ said Andreas Müller after the end of the game in the mixed zone. Eleven Dresden players wrestled on the pitch, they also competed against the hosts‘ loud audience, which repeatedly influenced the visibility on the pitch by burning numerous pyrotechnic flares. Of course, one cannot say that the SV 98, took the high hurdle with total aplomb despite these special influences, but the turbulent course of the game speaks for itself. This expectation would probably have been presumptuous. But the South Hesse team took on this cup fight on difficult ground from the start and won the majority. The mentality that has triumphed countless times over the supposedly higher quality in such cup games was present to an extremely high degree in both teams that evening. Without this attitude, the Lilies would probably have failed in this atmosphere.

The defensive work: „Overall, we defended better despite the two goals conceded. I’ve seen a development in the last few weeks,“ summed up Kohfeldt after the 120 minutes. In the 3-2 win, the defensive line was of course not flawless, but the South Hesse defensive group was stable for most of the cup evening. Aleksandar Vukotic was the emblematic tower in the battle and headed countless crosses from his own box. What was also noteworthy was the defensive movement of all the offensive players, some of whom rushed back into their own penalty area to do their part in the defensive work. Anyone who compares the games against Köln, Ulm and now also in Dresden with the sometimes wild games in Karlsruhe, Schalke or even at the beginning of the season will see clear progress here. Especially in the second half of extra time, the Lilies defied the Dynamo’s constant attempts to attack and managed to advance.

Exploiting opportunities: The half-hour follow-up from Dresden? From Lilien’s point of view, it would have been anything but necessary. Although it took some time for SV 98 to get some really good scoring opportunities, they arose in abundance over the course of the second half. Kohfeldt also explained accordingly: “We weren’t good in the first half. We played football just to play football and not to score goals. We have to be determined. We were significantly better after the break. Then we talk about exploiting opportunities.”

Vukotic, Corredor, Lidberg and Hornby. They all could have added more after the opening goal and thus probably put the lid on this game. “We should have closed the game earlier,” said Schuhen, while Müller spoke of a “great evening,” „which, however, could have been a little shorter.” The successful outcome of the game means this wasn’t crucial. However, the agenda item “exploiting opportunities” will certainly find a place on the coaching team’s agenda. But one thing remains clear: creating such a high number of good opportunities is fundamentally a positive aspect.