SV Elversberg ends its lull in the 2nd Bundesliga with a win in the top game at 1. FC Kaiserslautern and is knocking on the top again. After the 3:1 (1:1) on Saturday evening at Betzenberg, the SVE (38 points) moved within one point of league leaders FC Schalke 04.
Lukas Petkov (45th + 6 minutes, penalty), winter newcomer David Mokwa (55th) and Luca Schnellbacher (86th) scored the first win for the Saarland team in 2026. “Very, very grown up” and “very, very mature“, Elversberg’s coach Vincent Wagner called his team’s performance at the sports show microphone.
An own goal by Maximilian Rohr (45th + 9) meant the interim equalizer for the “Red Devils”, who had lost Leon Robinson (45th + 5) with a red card shortly before the break before the penalty. “It is difficult to bear this defeat today because it has had a massive impact” FCK coach Torsten Lieberknecht referred to the red card in the Sportschau interview: “We had to fight with these resistances.“
While Elversberg has its sights set on the promotion spots again, Kaiserslautern (31 points) is losing sight of the top spots after their second home defeat.
Sparklers in the stands in Lautern, fireworks on the lawn
After a big sparkler choreo by the FCK fans before kick-off, the teams also got started on the pitch with a lot of fire. Kaiserslautern and Elversberg played with an open mind in the first few minutes. Pressing, counter-pressing, deep passes – it was all going on at Betzenberg.
The FCK fans hold up thousands of sparklers before the game.
Elversberg had two great opportunities in the first five minutes alone. But both Bambasé Conté (3rd) and Petkov (5th) couldn’t get a precise finish from the right and were denied by FCK goalkeeper Julian Krahl.
Joly misses from close range for FCK
The FCK didn’t have good results at first, but they did a lot of work and chased the guests man-to-man deep into their half. After 20 minutes, the “Red Devils” had their first good chance. Mika Haas broke through on the left wing and brought the ball nicely to the second post. Paul Joly slid in there, but somehow Elversberg’s goalkeeper Nicolas Kristof got his hands on it and cleared it for a corner. “We have to take a 1-0 lead and then we have the situation where it will be a different game“, Lieberknecht complained.
After that the game calmed down a bit. Elversberg had a good approach through Frederik Schmahl (36th) on the right side. At Kaiserslautern, striker Ivan Pratjin had to leave the field injured. When it looked like a lively but goalless first half, the game really picked up speed again.
Red card against Lautern and two goals in stoppage time
Elversberg’s Maximilian Rohr slipped the ball over the goal from a short distance after a standard (45th + 1). And when everyone asked themselves why, it became clear with the help of the video assistant: Lautern’s Julian Robinson had energetically pulled his opponent’s jersey in the scene. According to the pictures, referee Deniz Aytekin decided on a red card for Robinson and a penalty.
Deniz Aytekin checks Robinson’s foul on Rohr.
Petkov safely converted it to make it 1-0 and Elversberg thought they had taken the lead at the break. But the “Red Devils” fought back again. The ball jumped to Nataan Skyttä’s feet on the left of the five-yard box and his sharp cross pushed Elversberg’s pipe over his own line to make it 1-1.
Mokwa with debut goal for Elversberg
After the crazy final phase, expectations were high for the second half. But the game changed. When outnumbered, Kaiserslautern played a much more cautious game, leaving the ball to the guests and waiting for a counterattack. That didn’t go well for long. After a long shift to the left, Tom Zimmerschied had too much space, went into the penalty area and put it back cleverly. Winter newcomer Mokwa stood there and scored his first goal for SVE with a precise shot into the left corner – 2-1.
Now Elversberg was in motion. The guests were stuck in the FCK half. Lautern wobbled precariously. But little by little the Palatinate team fought their way back and also came up with counterattacks. But there was no more than one free kick opportunity, which Luca Sirch (71′) shot over the goal.
And before things could get hectic in the final phase, Elversberg put the lid on it. Petkov won the ball from Kenny Redondo just outside the penalty area, moved to the baseline and put it back. Substitute Schnellbacher was spot on and scored, as he did in the 2-1 first leg win against Lautern. This time it ended 3:1.
Lukas Petkov (l.) puts the lid on it with his second goal.
Lautern in Darmstadt, Elversberg against Hertha
Lautern will also play the “top game” on matchday 21 and will be guests at SV Darmstadt 98 on Saturday evening (February 7, 2026, 8:30 p.m.). Elversberg welcomes Hertha BSC on Saturday afternoon (1 p.m.).
