Deniz Undav on target as Stuttgart beat Holstein Kiel to reach DFB Cup semi-finals
Deniz Undav scored his 15th goal of the season as DFB Cup holders VfB Stuttgart eased into the 2025/26 semi-finals with a hard-fought victory over Bundesliga 2 side Holstein Kiel.
Holstein Kiel 0-3 VfB Stuttgart
Goals: 0-1 Undav 56’, 0-2 Führich 90’, 0-3 Karazor 90’+3
Sebastian Hoeneß's side arrived at the Holstein-Stadion confident of joining Bayer Leverkusen in the last four, having lost just twice in their previous eleven matches across all competitions.
Kiel, though, were looking to claim their third Bundesliga scalp in succession after getting the better of Wolfsburg and Hamburg in the previous two rounds. In freezing temperatures in northern Germany, it was the second-tier side who made the brighter start.
Only eight minutes had been played when Adrián Kaprálik latched onto Ivan Nekic's long ball in behind the visitors' defence, but the 23-year-old's powerful shot was palmed wide by goalkeeper Alexander Nübel.
The Bundesliga 2 outfit continued to threaten, with Phil Harres heading wide from a corner before Andu Kelati blazed over from a promising position. Stuttgart gradually found their rhythm, though, and Undav should have done better when he managed to get on the end of Chris Führich's teasing ball into the box. The Germany striker had been left unmarked but could only steer his header wide of Timon Weiner's goal.
The visitors continued to dominate possession as the half went on but struggled to threaten Weiner in the Kiel goal, as Marcel Rapp's team deservedly went into half-time on level terms.
Just two minutes after Kiel midfielder Umut Tohumcu was forced off through injury, Stuttgart found the breakthrough. Angelo Stiller's whipped free-kick was headed across goal by Atakan Karazor, and Undav reacted quickest to prod the ball past Weiner for his second DFB Cup goal of the campaign.
The goal appeared to deflate the home side, who struggled to maintain the intensity they had shown before the interval. Rapp tried to inject fresh energy with the introductions of Aldin Jakupovic and Jonas Therkelsen in the 70th minute, and the changes nearly paid off immediately as Jakupovic forced Nübel into action with a shot from outside the box before flashing another effort wide from a tight angle inside the area.
Kiel continued to push forward in search of an equaliser, but Stuttgart were ruthless on the counter-attack. Führich doubled their lead when he collected Undav's pass, rounded Weiner and slotted the ball into the empty net, before Karazor unconventionally bundled home VfB's third - after going to ground under Weiner's challenge - to add gloss to the scoreline from the visitors' perspective.
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