Devilishly good in the foreign hell: 1. FC Kaiserslautern made its long-awaited return to the second division perfect in what ended up being a scandalous showdown and shot Dynamo Dresden into the third division. The Red Devils won the relegation second leg at Zweitliga-16. with 2:0 (0:0) and celebrated the rise in the fourth attempt.
Daniel Hanslik (59′) and Philipp Hercher (90′ + 2′) scored the immensely important goals for the four-time champions from the Palatinate, who had drawn 0-0 in the first leg at Betzenberg four days earlier.
“Kaiserslautern in the second division – that’s a great feeling. With the 2-0 win, the lid was on. The boys played a fantastic season,” said Schuster on “Sat.1”. The FCK coach took over the post from Marco Antwerpen just before the relegation. “Marco has also made his contribution,” said Schuster.
The terrific support in the Rudolf Harbig Stadium, which was filled with 30,530 spectators, did not help the Dresden team without a win in 2022 to avoid immediate relegation to the 3rd division.
After the 2-0 in added time, Dynamo fans threw numerous firecrackers on the pitch and caused an interruption of several minutes, and there were also two places on fire in Dresden’s K-Block. The teams stayed on the pitch during this break and discussed with referee Daniel Siebert (Berlin), who decided against stopping the game.
Because of the problem fans in both fan camps, the police were on duty with over 1000 officers. The focus was on a strict separation of fans, also on arrival and departure. A police helicopter was deployed and, as a precaution, water cannons were also placed in the operational area. The city initially remained peaceful, but pyrotechnics were constantly being ignited in the stadium. A firecracker even flew from the FCK fan block to a spectator tier with Dresden supporters.
The “loud atmosphere” is what “the boys need,” said Dynamo’s coach Guerino Capretti in advance. With the frenetic crowd behind them, Dresden wanted to take “a bigger risk” than in the first leg – but both teams initially implemented this plan.
Dresden missed compensation, Kaiserslautern followed up
A racy duel developed with early chances for both sides. For the hosts, Christoph Daferner (11th) and the conspicuous Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer (14th, 45th) failed in the first half. At FCK Terrence Boyd (11th) and Philipp Hercher (26th) had the 1-0 on their feet.
Dresden, who had switched to a 4-2-3-1 system compared to the first leg, tried to control the game more. But the Lauterers held back with running and tackling strength and also looked for the way to the opposing goal. The first setback for Dynamo after half an hour: Midfield clearer Yannick Stark had to be substituted in tears because of an ankle injury.
Even after the change of sides, both teams fought doggedly for every centimeter, which meant that a lot fell by the wayside in terms of play. The guests were a little more dangerous offensively – and that was rewarded: After Boyd failed with a powerful header (58th), Hanslik did better a minute later and scored the lead with a low shot.
The hosts responded with furious attacks and shortly afterwards had a great chance to equalize through Patrick Weihrauch (63′). Shortly thereafter, Weihrauch also had to leave the pitch injured. Dynamo increased the pressure with every minute, FCK keeper Matheo Raab was more and more the focus. On the other side, Boyd (83rd) missed a huge chance to make it 2-0 in a hectic final phase before Hercher made everything clear.