The trembling at 1. FC Nürnberg is over. The Franconian footballers celebrated a clear home win against SGS Essen and stayed in the league.
The fans of the 1. FC Nürnberg footballers gave the slogan on Friday – and the players fulfilled it in the following 90 minutes of play in the Max Morlock Stadium with the club’s women’s greatest success to date. Shortly before the kick-off of the all-important Bundesliga basement duel against SGS Essen, they rolled out a banner that said: “Make history today.” What the club women did from then on: Thanks to a lightning goal from Fany Proniez and goals from FCN top scorer Nastassja Lein and Maelle Seguin, they won 3-0 (1-0) and thus managed to stay in the league one match day before the end of the season.
The Nuremberg women were promoted to the first league for the third time last summer. For the first time, the eleventh in the table are now allowed to plan another season in the upper house after they were immediately relegated again in 2000 and 2024. Essen, which is currently in 13th place, has almost been relegated after the defeat and a significantly poorer goal difference than Hamburger SV, which is three points better placed.
Fany Proniez puts FCN in the lead with a lightning goal – but Essen presses
The Nuremberg coach Isabel Bauer seemed to have found the right words before the game, because her team seemed highly motivated right from the start to make it clear that they would stay in the league. After just 58 seconds, FCN took the lead through Frenchwoman Proniez, who got the ball from the far right of the penalty area after a deflected shot – and casually shot it into the far corner.
After that, the club women had one or two smaller opportunities in the first half, but shifted more to defending. Essen still had a few chances: The Swiss Ella Touon forced Nuremberg’s goalkeeper Lourdes Romero to make a flying move, and she ultimately grabbed the ball in the follow-up just in front of the goal line (17th minute). Leonie Köpp later hit the ball just over the goal from a few meters (37′).
Lein fails because of Latte and Sterner – and then causes cheers
The half-time break came at just the right time for the club women after another period of pressure from Essen. And in the cabin it only appeared since then Bauer was promoted to head coach at the end of Aprilwhich followed Thomas Oostendorp, who was unlucky in the second half of the season, to have once again found the right words. The club women also started stronger in the second half. After two strong counter-attack runs from midfield into the Essen penalty area, Lein failed first to hit the crossbar (50th) and then to a tackle from her opponent Beke Sterner (56th).
But since all good things come in threes even in the octagon, she appeared again in the SGS penalty area a little later and still managed her eleventh goal of the season. This time Proniez used it on the counterattack with a cross pass in the penalty area, Lein pushed the ball over the goal line to make it 2-0 (64th). The jubilation in Nuremberg was already big after this temporary relief – and it got even bigger shortly before the end of the game.
Club women defeat theirs Fearful opponents Eat
Maelle Seguin, who had just been substituted, even scored the 3-0 for Nuremberg. After a corner was blocked, she lurked in the penalty area and volleyed the ball into the net – a furious Franconian final point to this basement duel.
This remains a historic evening for Nuremberg, on which not only the specter of relegation was finally banished, but also a feared opponent was humiliated: After three clear defeats (0:5, 0:4 and 0:2), they now have a 3-0 win for the first time against SGS Essen, who after 22 years in the Bundesliga will probably now have to plan for the second division again.
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Source: BR24 May 8, 2026 – 6:52 p.m
