Lausitz is celebrating: For its 60th birthday, FC Energie Cottbus gifted its fans with a 3-1 home win against Hoffenheim II. The FCE erased an early deficit and is now top of the 3rd league for the time being. The fans showed a choreo worth seeing.
- FC Energie Cottbus beats Hoffenheim II 3-1
- The Lausitzers are taking the lead in the 3rd league table for the time being
- FC Energie fans celebrate the club’s 60th birthday with a big choreo
- Hannemann and Engelhardt score the Cottbus goals
Round thing on a big birthday: The FC Energie Cottbus won 3-1 (2-1) against the second representative of TSG Hoffenheim on Saturday afternoon. Thanks to the victory, the Lausitzers are currently leaders in the 3rd league.
In the stands, the Lausitz fans celebrated their club’s 60th anniversary by showing a remarkable choreography before kick-off, which spanned three stands and was the largest of its kind in the club’s history.
The course of the game
On the pitch, it was the guests from Hoffenheim who made the first statement: Tolcay Cigerci misused the ball in the build-up game, Deniz Zeitler powered his way through the center and pushed in to make it 1-0 for TSG (4th minute). In direct response, Erik Engelhardt missed a good chance with the first dangerous Cottbus action (6th).
The home team then pushed for a 1-1 draw – and in the 15th minute, Moritz Hannemann shook the Cottbus stadium with his equalizer. A deflected shot from Cigerci hit the left outside post in the 35th minute. Two minutes later, Hannemann shot just wide of the goal. And just before the half-time whistle, Energie struck again: Cigerci crossed, Engelhardt nodded in to make it 2-1 (44′).
Choreo by the Cottbus fans for FC Energie’s 60th birthday on Saturday.
After the break, this entertaining game continued at a lively pace. Henry Rorig was denied by TSG goalkeeper Lukas Petersson (47′), on the other hand Energie keeper Marius Funk prevented the equalizer with a save (51′).
The Cottbus supporters lit one or two flares in the 60th minute – and couldn’t stop celebrating that afternoon. Hoffenheim II missed a huge opportunity to equalize in the 80th minute through Luca Erlein. Engelhardt made everything clear shortly afterwards, scoring a brace and making the final score 3-1 (84′).
What was going on there?
In the 67th minute, TSG keeper Lukas Petersson, who was rushing out, fell Cottbus’s Justin Butler, who had already put the ball in front of him and probably just had to push it in. But referee Kevin Behrens only showed the Hoffenheim goalkeeper a yellow card because, from his point of view, Butler was heading towards the corner flag and therefore the foul did not thwart a clear chance to score. A controversial decision.
The player of the day
…on this special afternoon, all 15,645 spectators were present, celebrating the 60th anniversary of FC Energie, providing a loud and colorful backdrop and presenting a choreography for the football history books.
Countable
- Cottbus returned the favor 1:4 defeat in the first leg
- Engelhardt scored his 14th and 15th goals of the season and is now the top scorer in the 3rd league (tied with Lars Gindorf from Alemannia Aachen)
- “Pele” Wollitz celebrated his 250th competitive win as energy coach
The voices for the game
Claus-Dieter Wollitz: (FC Energie Cottbus coach): “250 wins are a statement. I’m very happy about it and grateful that people have these statistics. But I’m even more happy about the win and the fantastic first half.”
Stefan Kleineheismann (coach of TSG Hoffenheim II): “We are never satisfied when we lose games, that is clear. Nevertheless, I am proud of how my young team performed here. We stood up to Cottbus extremely well and had momentum where we could have taken the game to our side. With this energy in the stadium, which was outstanding, Cottbus was, in my opinion, the somewhat lucky winner.”
The live ticker to read
Broadcast: rbb UM6, January 31, 2026, 6:15 p.m
