Dynamo Dresden wins Saxony Cup against FC Erzgebirge Aue

Dynamo Dresden have won the Saxony Cup. In the duel between the third division teams against FC Erzgebirge Aue, the Greek Panagiotis Vlachodimos was the match-winner in his last game for the Dresdeners. In front of 27,119 spectators - a record crowd in the Saxon Cup - he scored in the 109th and 116th minutes to secure a 2:0 (0:0, 0:0) victory after extra time. Both teams had already been confirmed as participants in the first round of the DFB Cup before the match.

In an extremely heated first half with multiple scuffles, the two teams met at eye level. Dynamo dominated the opening phase and had two good opportunities through Stefan Kutschke (19, 29), but Aue goalkeeper Martin Männel was on the alert. Aue also started to attack after 20 minutes. The free-standing Niko Vukancic missed a header by a wide margin after 24 minutes. Boris Tashchy's low shot (34') was saved by Dresden goalkeeper Daniel Mesenhöler.

The two teams continued to neutralize each other in the second half. It was rarely dangerous in front of goal at first. When they did, it was mostly in front of Männel. However, both Niklas Hauptmann (60') and substitute Vlachodimos (69') hesitated far too long. Aue had the chance to take the lead with a free-kick from Maximilian Thiel (73'), but he failed to hit the far post.

That was the prelude to a final phase in which both teams played with an open goal. Aue now started early and forced Dynamo to make mistakes in the build-up. Tashchy forced Mesenhöler into a brilliant save (78'). However, neither team managed to score in normal time.

Dynamo invested more in extra time, but only rarely created clear-cut chances. Robin Meißner narrowly missed after 98 minutes and his shot in the 108th minute was deflected just wide. As is so often the case, the shots on goal lacked precision. After taking the lead, Dynamo did not make good enough use of the counter-attacking opportunities that presented themselves and thus failed to force an early decision. Only Vlachodimos redeemed Dynamo and its supporters four minutes before the end.