Münster with a last-minute goal
©IMAGO
FC Schalke 04 went into the winter break as leaders of the 2nd Bundesliga, but suffered a defeat at the end of the year. The Royal Blues lost 2-1 at Eintracht Braunschweig on Sunday, while their rivals SV Elversberg also didn’t win in the home game against Preußen Münster, but at least scored points (1-1). The Saarlanders are now in second place, three points behind S04. Meanwhile, Hannover 96 missed out on the top four in the league at 1. FC Nürnberg, while the club maneuvered itself into the top half of the table with a 2-1 win.
Autumn champions FC Schalke 04 ended a successful second division season with a weak performance. The league leaders deservedly lost 1:2 (0:0) to relegation candidate Eintracht Braunschweig. Both Braunschweig goals were scored by two former Schalke players: Mehmet Aydin scored in the 60th minute and Sidi Sané in the 85th minute. The disappointing Schalke team only managed to score again through Soufiane El-Faouzi (88th).
In front of 23,080 spectators, the league leaders played against their own branch. Braunschweig’s coach Heiner Backhaus is a former youth player and lifelong fan of S04. And Aydin is one of eight former Schalke players in the Eintracht squad. Nevertheless, the relegation candidate gave the front runner nothing. Leon Bell Bell had a great chance to take the lead in the 11th minute. Braunschweig made the more dangerous impression in the first half.
In the meantime the game lost a lot of quality. A scene from the 54th minute is typical: Braunschweig’s Erencan Yardimci could have run towards the goal alone after a through pass from Robin Heußer, but was knocked out of step by his own teammate. However, unity stuck with it. First Bell Bell missed another good chance (58th). Then Aydin scored. And again just two minutes later, Christian Conteh missed the double strike on a counterattack (62nd).
Only then could anything be seen offensively from Schalke. Moussa Sylla headed just over the goal after a corner (67′). After the 1:2, the autumn champions threw everything forward. Bitter for Braunschweig: The strong Conteh had to be carried off the pitch with a knee injury (73).
Klose cheers: Effective Nuremberg dupes Hanover
1. FC Nürnberg, who were clearly inferior until shortly before the break, spoiled the end of the year for Hannover 96 in the 2nd Bundesliga with their ice-cold effectiveness and great morale. After a double strike from Rafael Lubach (44th minute) and Mohamed Zoma (49th), Nuremberg’s coach Miroslav Klose was able to celebrate a 2-1 (1-1) result on the sidelines at the end of the first half of the season.
After a flu outbreak during the week, the club fought through the home game and jumped to eighth place with 22 points. Hannover (29 points), however, failed to maintain direct contact with the top group after Benjamin Källman’s well-deserved opening goal (19th). In terms of play, it was just a class difference that the 34,022 spectators in the Max Morlock Stadium experienced. Coach Christian Titz’s visiting team dominated and created a number of opportunities. The problem: Only top scorer Källman scored with a follow-up shot. Otherwise, the outstanding goalkeeper Jan Reichert prevented things from getting worse for Nuremberg on several occasions.
Without top performers Adam Markhiev (yellow suspension) and Juliuan Justvan (ill), they only appeared dangerously once before the break. And immediately it was 1:1. Adriano Grimaldi extended a long ball from Fabio Gruber with his head. Lubach scored decisively from 17 meters. And the now suddenly awake and energetic “club” stepped up. Zoma evaded opponent Ime Okon on the right wing and completed his solo run with a lob over Hannover goalkeeper Nahuel Noll. The game was over. And Hanover no longer had an answer.
Late equalizer: draw between Elversberg and Münster
SV Elversberg missed out on a win at the end of the year and is still in a promotion spot over the winter. At SC Preußen Münster, Vincent Wagner’s team couldn’t get past a 1-1 (1-0) draw after a last-minute equalizer from Westphalia. This means that the Saarlanders, who have not won in five games, failed to get even closer to league leaders FC Schalke 04 at the last minute.
In front of 9,828 spectators in the Preußenstadion, Younes Ebnoutalib scored from the spot with a penalty (34th minute), before Etienne Amenyido headed the equalizer in stoppage time (90th + 4th). Elversberg increased its point tally to 34 points, while the SCP under coach Alexander Ende now has 20 points in its account and thus a three-point buffer on the relegation relegation place.
Münster got off to a better start, but missed several good chances. In the tenth minute, Oliver Batista Meier had the opportunity from the penalty spot after a foul by Lukas Pinckert on Lucas Bolay in the penalty area, but goalkeeper Nicolas Kristof parried. On the other side, Elversberg also received a penalty after a foul by Jannis Heuer – and took advantage of it: the fouled Ebnoutalib himself scored to make it 1-0.
In the second half, Elversberg tightened the spaces and was closer to making it 2-0 than the hosts were to equalizing. Bambasé Conté (63′), goalscorer Ebnoutalib and Lasse Günther (84′) were denied by goalkeeper Johannes Schenk. In the final phase, when the Münster team’s strength was dwindling after the strong initial phase, the keeper himself came into the opponent’s penalty area and was able to celebrate the equalizer.