Haslsteiner fires BVB women into Kreispokal semi-final

Borussia Dortmund's women's footballers have won their Kreispokal quarter-final versus SuS Hörde 1-0 (0-0). Ana Louisa Haslsteiner scored the game's only goal on 58 minutes.

This cup quarter-final held a premiere in store for Borussia Dortmund. The women's team played on a clay pitch for the first time, in the shadow of the old Phoenix-West blast furnace. The Grandplatz am Schallacker is one of the last of its kind in Dortmund. It was a slice of Ruhr romanticism for the 300 spectators, but it was less of a love affair for the players.

Sulewski's charges lined up in an attack-minded 4-4-2 formation but dangerous penalty-box moments remained few and far between. The pitch allowed for hardly any controlled build-up play; the Hörde ladies defended passionately and the Black & Yellows looked slightly too chaotic in spells. Mandy Reinhardt spurned the best opportunity in the 39th minute when she was denied by SuS goalkeeper Mara Hinrichs. "The attitude was right. But we were slightly cumbersome and didn't get into dangerous shooting positions," coach Thomas Sulewski said.

Sulewski made a treble substitution at the break and switched to the usual 4-1-4-1 system. The floodlights came on - and the players successfully flipped the switch too. The BVB women started with a lot of momentum and played considerably more assertively. The big chance to take the lead came in the 57th minute when the referee pointed to the penalty spot following a foul on Mia Macarena Bedarf in the box. But Ann-Katrin Lau failed to beat Hinrichs. However, Hörde's hopes of springing a cupset were ended by Ana Louisa Haslsteiner, whose powerful shot from 20 metres out only a minute later found the right corner of the goal.

It remained one-way traffic, but the Bezirksliga champions could not prematurely seal the win. Bedarf (65), Annika Billig (66, 71) and Lau (68) all failed to convert excellent opportunities, meaning that their lead ultimately remained a slender 1-0 that never looked in danger against a harmless home side. A strike by Lau that hit the woodwork was the final moment of danger in the match. "We wanted to reach the next round, we're through to the next round and that's all that counts," said Sulewski in summary of the cup tie at the Schallacker.

The semi-final will see a repeat clash of last year's final against TV Brechten. BVB will enjoy home advantage in that tie. The next home game is coming up this Sunday. FC SW Silschede will be the visitors to Stadion Rote Erde at 15:00 CET.

BVBwomen: Schröer - Hentrich, Jung, Bergmann (Grothe, 61), Glänzer - Herbig (Lau, 46), Rogge-Herper (Bedarf, 46), Haslsteiner, Billig - Reinhardt, Kaul (Becker, 46)

Goals: 0-1 Haslsteiner (58)
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