Briliant brace from Hannover's 19-year-old Beier dumps Gladbach out of Pokal
Ron-Robert Zieler made several solid saves, while Beier and Kerk delivered the knockout blows to Monchengladbach's cup hopes.
In a repeat of the 1992 DfB Pokal final, Hannover 96 hosted Borussia Monchengladbach in the HDI-Arena with both sides bidding to progress into the next round. Hannover won that respective cup final of ’92, lifting Germany’s prestigious cup competition title after a 4-3 penalty shoot-out victory. There was no doubt before kick-off that either team would take a win in similar fashion given there was a place in the last 8 up for grabs.
The 2.Bundesliga side, Hannover, made the perfect start to their evening inside four minutes of the start when Beier found the net. Elvedi failed to clear his lines when dealing with a H96 long ball. Striker, Weydandt picked up possession and threaded a perfect pass into the feet of the 19-year-old winger who finished brilliantly by shooting across Sommer’s body to the far post.
Neuhaus almost drew his side level on 11 minutes when he was slipped in from a Thuram headed pass. The German midfielder did well to stay onside and attempted to place his shot just inside the post, however Zieler adjusted brilliantly to divert the effort wide with his right foot.
On 34 minutes, referee Florian Badstubner received information from VAR regarding a potential penalty incident in the Gladbach box. Friedrich appeared to block the shot of 24---- with an outstretched arm. A spot kick was awarded, Kerk stepped up, and his blushes were spared when Sommer’s hand wasn’t enough to prevent the goal resulting in a 2-0 scoreline.
Hutter made two changes during the interval – Embolo entered the fray for Plea, while Zakaria replaced the struggling Thuram. Unfortunately for Die Fohlen, it was a mirror image of the first half when Hannover dealt the first blow of the second 45 minutes. Maina dashed away on the counter and timed a perfect pass to Beier who nonchalantly brushed the ball past Sommer with the outside of his boot to double his tally on the night.
On 62 minutes Die Roten almost bagged their fourth of the night but for the reactions of Sommer. The follow up from his save rebounded to Beier who came within inches of a Pokal hattrick when his effort pinged off the right post and wide.
Credit must go to Zieler who played a key part in Hannover’s control of the game tonight. Any time Gladbach managed to carve out a good shooting chance, the Hannover shot stopper made several impressive saves – one on Embolo in the 72nd minute arguably the pick of the bunch. Zieler went one better again in added time, reacting superbly to prevent an Ochs’ own goal and maintain the clean sheet.
Thoroughly deserved from the team placed 12th in the 2.Bundesliga, who were free scoring tonight despite being the joint lowest scorers in league action so far. The draw awaits them as they progress to the quarter finals with relative ease.