Fortuna beat St Pauli on penalties to reach German Cup last four

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Christos Tzolis' panenka in penalties pushes Fortuna Dusseldorf to the semifinals

Christos Tzolis shows his composure with a wonderful goal to push Fortuna Dusseldorf over St. Pauli in penalties.

Updated: Jan 30, 2024, 11:00 pm

Fortuna Dusseldorf edged past hosts St Pauli 4-3 on penalties on Tuesday after drawing 2-2 over 120 minutes to reach the semi-finals of the German Cup for the first time in 28 years.

Three days after Dusseldorf lost at home in the league to leaders St Pauli in Germany's second tier, the Westphalian team had the chance to make amends.

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They went in front with a 38th-minute penalty by Vincent Vermeij, after he was brought down by keeper Sascha Burchert.

St Pauli, attempting to reach the Cup semi-finals for the first time since 2006, got their own spot kick on the hour and Marcel Hartel bagged the equaliser.

Dusseldorf went back in front in extra time after keeper Burchert spilled the ball in the 99th minute when trying to block a long-range effort from Christoph Daferner.

Ao Tanaka slid in to beat the keeper to the punch and snatch what the visitors thought was the winner.

But the hosts levelled in the 120th minute through Carlo Boukhalfa's close-range header to force penalties and Dusseldorf keeper Florian Kastenmeier saved two spot kicks to send his team through.

Hertha Berlin face Kaiserslautern on Wednesday while Bayer Leverkusen host VfB Stuttgart and Saarbruecken take on Borussia Moenchengladbach next week in the other quarterfinals.