At the end of the year on Tuesday evening against the surprise team from Ulm, 1. FC Saarbrücken wanted to get three more points – and they succeeded. With a 2-1 win and 30 points under their belt, the blue-blacks are now heading into the winter break.
1. FC Saarbrücken started with a slightly different starting lineup for the game against league leaders Jahn Regensburg in the last league game of 2023. Against newly promoted Ulm, FCS coach Rüdiger Ziehl gave preference to Dominik Becker and Simon Stehle over Boné Uaferro and Julius Biada.
Two great chances and one goal
The first big chance for the blue and black hosts came in the 3rd minute through a counterattack. After Kasim Rabihic won the ball after a free kick for Ulm, he passed it to Patrick Sontheimer, who fed Marcel Gaus, who was running along. However, his shot on goal failed due to opposing keeper Christian Ortag, who was able to thwart the early lead thanks to a strong save.
The FCS stayed on the trigger – but were again unable to capitalize on the next huge opportunity in the 20th minute. And that despite a double chance: after a corner kick, Sontheimer aimed directly at the goal. His shot was blocked by Ulm’s Dennis Chessa and landed on Becker’s feet in the five-yard box. His attempt was again clarified by Ortag.
In the 32nd minute, the FCS was able to reward itself for its offensive efforts: Calogero Rizzuto simply tried it himself from a good 20 meters and hit the left corner with a Sunday shot to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. There was no further significant chance until the final whistle of the first half – with this result the teams finally went into the dressing rooms at half-time.
Equalizer out of nowhere
The next big chance for the home team didn’t take long to arrive in the second half. However, three shots on goal by FCS captain Manuel Zeitz after a corner kick in the 45th minute were all blocked by the Ulm team.
While the guests, who had a remarkable first half of the season as third division newcomers, also struggled to find their way into the game in the second half, the FCS pushed for the second lead – but the equalizer for the Ulm team came out of nowhere.
After a free kick, Léo Scienza brought the ball to the second post, FCS goalkeeper Tim Paterok decided to come out of the goal to intercept the ball. However, it slipped past him in a very unfortunate way and landed on the feet of Tom Gaal, who slotted it into the empty goal to make it 1-1.
In the 76th minute, Kai Brünker made amends for Paterok’s mistake by giving FCS the lead again: Brünker’s header from close range was preceded by a cross from Julian Günther-Schmidt. Even though the home team was still able to create one or two chances to increase their lead, the last game of the year for Ziehl’s team ultimately ended with a 2-1 win.
Going into the winter break with 30 points
We are now heading into the winter break with a score of 30 points – no team currently deserves this as much as 1. FC Saarbrücken. Five “English weeks” since the beginning of November: the workload at the end of the year was high. “We recently had a game every third day,” says defender Dominik Becker. “The batteries are already empty.”
On January 20th, the blue-blacks will be challenged away again – at Viktoria Köln. The game kicks off at 2 p.m. Two and a half weeks later, on February 7th, The DFB Cup quarter-final against Borussia Mönchengladbach in Ludwigspark is already coming up.
The SR radio news also reported on this topic on December 19, 2023.
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