As in the competition before last, Hoffenheim again advance to the last 16. Andrej Kramaric (30) again remains without a goal in the 5:1 win against Kiel.
In the end, the scene remained meaningless, but it is still remarkable. After an hour of play, Andrej Kramaric headed alone towards Kiel’s goalkeeper Ioannis Gelios after a great interface pass from Georginio Rutter. There were times when TSG fans could look forward to a sure goal in comparable situations. But this time, too, the record scorer of the Kraichgau team looked erratic and clearly missed the ball. Things are not going as well as usual when it comes to finishing this season. For the 30-year-old, the season had begun as promisingly as his record-breaking season (20 goals) had ended.
In the very first cup, Kramaric contributed two goals in a 3:2 win over Viktoria Köln. He followed this up in the league with four assists in the first two games. However, he did not score again until the sixth matchday, in a 3:1 win against Wolfsburg. This was not due to a lack of opportunities. But the Croatian has lost his once self-evident coolness in front of goal. He continues to make his mark on Hoffenheim’s offensive and has already directly prepared six goals and initiated others. Most recently in the 5:0 win against Cologne. Kramariv was the lynchpin, set up two goals, but once again failed to score a goal of his own. Afterwards in Munich (0:4, kicker grade 5) he was not to be seen at all. After the cup match on Tuesday, coach Sebastian Hoeneß offered an explanation.
“It wasn’t Corona, otherwise he wouldn’t have played, but he had a cold. “
HOENESS ON KRAMARIC
“With Andrej, you have to know that he was relatively ill before the Bayern game,” Hoeneß revealed, “that wasn’t known, it wasn’t a Corona, otherwise he wouldn’t have played, but he had a cold. The infection seems to have pulled something. Against Bayern it was noticeable, this time he had actions, of course we know him more cold-headed.” Indeed. But you don’t leave a player of this quality and quota out so quickly. “He is someone who always bites through and always wants to play,” said Hoeneß, “you have to give him that, that such an infection does something to a player. Now we hope that on Friday the knot will burst as far as our own scoring chances are concerned.” The next home game against Hertha BSC is already on the agenda (incidentally, the last one without full capacity, after which the 2G model will also take effect in Kraichgau). “I’m quite relaxed,” assures Hoeneß, “whenever Andrej is discussed, he suddenly shines with scorers.”
This time, other strikers stepped into the breach. Above all, the young Georginio Rutter was an asset – also without a goal of his own. But the Frenchman created danger with his courageous actions and played a decisive role in forcing Kiel to score two own goals. And then there was the dream pass to Kramaric described at the beginning. “He has a good combination of physical presence and technical ability to find a way to continue the game,” praised Hoeneß, “a hard-working, eager-to-learn boy who laughs a lot. He’s fun to watch. “
Hoeneß on Dabbur: “I was pleased that he made it 4:1.
Munas Dabbur, on the other hand, scored but missed several opportunities, some of them much bigger. “I was pleased that he made it 4:1,” assured Hoeneß, “it’s always important for strikers to score goals, especially when you don’t use three really clear chances beforehand.”
With the clear 5:1 victory, TSG again reached the last 16, as in the competition before last, when they were defeated by FC Bayern (3:4), with Dabbur scoring his first two goals for Hoffenheim. Now the Kraichgauer finally want to reach the quarter-finals again, so far the highest of Hoffenheim’s cup feelings. TSG have been among the last eight teams seven times so far, most recently in the 2014/15 season (2:3 n.V. in Dortmund). “The DFB Cup is a really big chance to pull something off,” hopes Kevin Vogt, who organised the back three this time, “you only have a few games and then you can already be in the final.” Berlin is still a long way off. On Friday, Berlin will first come to Sinsheim.
