Stuttgart 1-0 Augsburg: Undav goal seals hosts´ semi-final spot

Stuttgart became the first team to qualify for the DFB-Pokal semi-finals as Deniz Undav’s first-half strike earned them a 1-0 win over Augsburg on Tuesday.

After losing in the quarter-finals to eventual champions Bayer Leverkusen in 2023-24, Sebastian Hoeness’ side will be hoping to reach the final for the first time since 2013.

Stuttgart were looking for a response from their 4-1 thrashing to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last week, and took a while to grow into the contest.

But they went ahead in the 30th minute when Frank Onyeka’s clearance deflected kindly off Ermedin Demirovic, with the Bosnian squaring the ball for Undav to finish.

Chris Fuhrich almost put Stuttgart further in front just before the break, but his strike rattled against the post with visiting goalkeeper Nediljko Labrovic well beaten.

Augsburg registered the only two shots on target after the break, both through Mert Komur, but his efforts were unable to trouble Alexander Nubel as Stuttgart held on.

Holders Leverkusen host second-tier club Cologne in their quarter-final clash on Wednesday, before Arminia Bielefeld face Werder Bremen and RB Leipzig take on Wolfsburg next week for a place in the final four.

Data Debrief: Undav the difference once again

Though far from convincing in the contest, Stuttgart edged closer to a first DFB-Pokal title since 1997, helped by one of their standout players this season.

Undav’s strike saw him get his 10th goal in his 24th appearance across all competitions this campaign, and just his second in the DFB-Pokal.

And there also came a little bit of Stuttgart history for manager Hoeness. He became only the second coach after Joachim Low (1996-97 and 1997-98) to reach the DFB-Pokal semi-finals twice with the club since the Bundesliga was founded in 1963-64.