After a thrilling victory at German Cup over Stuttgart, Leverkusen’s undefeated run surpasses 30 games. Bayern is up next
Germany’s LEVERKUSEN (AP) — Bayer Leverkusen defeated Stuttgart 3-2 in overtime to advance to the German Cup semifinals on Tuesday, marking 30 games undefeated across all competitions this season.
With a header in the ninetieth minute, Jonathan Tah won the match and saved extra time for Xabi Alonso’s club. On Saturday, they play a league match against championship challenger Bayern Munich. Alonso celebrated by jumping and punching the air on the sidelines.
Twice before, Leverkusen overcame a goal deficit. Waldemar Anton broke free from his marker Edmond Tapsoba at a corner and headed in at the far post to give Stuttgart the lead. Early in the second half, midfielder Robert Andrich tied the game with a looping shot into the top-right corner from around 20 meters (yards).
After Andrich gave up the ball, Chris Führich put Stuttgart back ahead, but Florian Wirtz, who also assisted Tah’s goal, found Amine Adli for Leverkusen to tie the score again on the break. In the last five games, Leverkusen has won three of them thanks to goals scored in stoppage time or the 90th minute.
After Andrich narrowly avoided receiving a second yellow card for a violent tackle in which he stepped on Enzo Millot’s foot, both teams were left wondering if the officiating call was correct.
After Stuttgart’s Hiroki Ito used a slide tackle in the box to bring down Jeremie Frimpong, Leverkusen were enraged. Despite Ito’s apparent lack of ball contact, the referee and video review decided against awarding a penalty.
Leverkusen, frequently known as “Neverkusen” due to its historical tendency to come up short of winning trophies, is still in the running for a league and cup double thanks to the victory. The German Cup was Leverkusen’s last championship in 1993.
In the semifinals, Leverkusen will play Fortuna Duesseldorf and Kaiserslautern, two teams from the second tier. Third-tier Saarbruecken takes on top-division Borussia Moenchengladbach on Wednesday for the final slot.
The stadium briefly fell silent as a fan was treated after falling from a stand. The person was conscious, Leverkusen said.
