CHEMNITZER FC (Stadion an der Gellertstraße)

DFB POKAL 1, CHEMNITZER FC 5-5 FSV MAINZ (AET; 3-3 after 90 minutes; Chemintzer won 5-4 on penalties)  ATTENDANCE:10,287

Today was an early start for a nine hour train cross border journey which took me from Switzerland to the East German city of Chemnitz.

  

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Chemnitz is located at the northern foothills of the Erzgebirge Mountains and the city was part of the old GDR and from 1953 to 1990, when it was known as Karl Marx Stadt, after the founding father of Communism, who the countries then Communist leaders wanted to honour.

The club was originally formed by students from Mittweida (a town about 18km north of Chemnitz) as Chemnitzer SC Britannia on 2 December 1899. The club were founding members of the DFB a year later. In 1933 the club folded due to financial difficulties but were immediately reformed as Chemnitzer BC 1933 before becoming FC Karl-Marx-Stadt in 1966 (in fact some fans tonight were still chanting FC Karl).

After German reunification in 1990, Chemnitzer FC, as they were now known again, were members of Bundesliga 2 before dropping as low as the Oberliga in 2006. The club is now on the rise again and are currently members of Liga 3. German football legend Michael Ballack began his career at Chemnitzer before moving to Kaiserslautern in 1997.

Chemnizter’s ground, Stadion an der Gellertstraße, is currently under redevelopment. The two sides of terracing behind each goal have been demolished and replaced with identikit stands. One stand was open tonight, but with no roof (this didn’t help the crowd in there when the rain started hammering down) whilst the other remained closed. I was stood in the corner of the current main stand, on a covered terrace. This stand is due to be developed next along with the open terrace opposite from where I stood.

Pre-match was spent in a bar not too far from my entrance to the ground, where Einsiedler beer was just €2 a pop, a relief to my wallet after drinking in Switzerland for the past two days!

Tonight was the first round of the DFB Pokal (the German equivalent of the FA Cup) and Chemnitzer were hosting Bundesliga outfit FSV Mainz, who had a great 2013/14 season by finishing 7th and qualifying for the Europa League, though they lost their manager, Thomas Tuchel, in the summer and failed to beat Greek side Asteras Tripolis in the Europa qualifying round.

Where do you start with this game?

There was absolutely no indication of the drama that was about to unfold as Mainz strolled into a 2-0 lead just after half time thanks to goals from Niki Dige Zimling (24) and Shinji Okazaki (49).  However within a minute Anton Fink (50) had halved the deficit then levelled things up just three minutes later.

Okazaki was twice one on one with Chemnitzer ‘keeper Phillip Pentke, first missing an open goal after rounding him, then hitting the crossbar after chipping him. Ja-Cheol Koo (73) eventually restored Mainz’s lead before those misses proved costly when an own goal from Niko Bungert (87) took the game to extra time.

In the 103rd minute a Markus Ziereis header gave Chemnitzer the lead for the first time before Bungert made up for his own goal by making it all square once more (109). When Marco Kehl-Gomez scored for Chemnitzer in the 119th minute it seemed that was it and they were through but an amazing shot from the halfway line from Mainz substitute Johannes Geis made it 5-5 and took the game to penalties.

All the penalties were converted until Pentke saved from Mainz’ Gonzalo Jara, so it was left to Chemnitzer’s skipper Anton Fink to score the winning penalty and take the sky blues through to the next round (pictured left).

An unbelievable night at the Gellertstraße and I felt privileged to be present. After all the excitement though I was need of drink and I happened to find the excellent Karls Brahaus opposite the Karl Marx monument, which kept me going into the wee small hours. Hic.

click here to see the match highlights

The current main stand at the Gellertstraße 

The Chemnitzer players celebrate...

...the Mainz fans probably did not!