Energie Cottbus has taken a big step towards promotion to the second division. Tolga Cigerci secured the late victory against Wehen Wiesbaden.
- Energy Cottbus wins 2-1 against SV Wehen Wiesbaden after a great fight
- Cigerci scores shortly before the end to win for Energie in front of a sold-out house
- The Lausitzers are now two points ahead of the relegation place
- On the last match day, Energie Cottbus has to go to Regensburg
Big celebrations in Lausitz: Energie Cottbus won 2-1 (1-1) against SV Wehen Wiesbaden in front of a sold-out crowd at the Leag Energie Stadium. In a long, evenly balanced game, Tolga Cigerci ensured that the dream of promotion to the second division was very close with a hammer shot from distance in the final phase (89th minute).
The FCE is now in second place before the final 38th matchday and in a direct promotion place. The pursuers MSV Duisburg and Rot-Weiss Essen are each two points behind. Cottbus will play in Regensburg on the last matchday (Saturday, May 16th, 1:30 p.m., live on rbb television and in the stream on rbb24.de).
The course of the game
Energie Cottbus was missing two key players, captain Axel Borgmann and top scorer Tolcay Cigerci, who were suspended. After one Minute of silence for Dieter Krein and an impressive choreo from the energetic fans, the game started with a bang: Moritz Hannemann hit the crossbar with a powerful shot from the right edge of the penalty area (3′).
Afterwards the game calmed down. Wiesbaden controlled the game, energy tried to press, spurred on by the great atmosphere, but there were no ball wins or good transition moments. The loss of Tolcay Cigerci was clearly noticeable because the playful element was missing.
Energie tried too often with high balls to the only tip, Engelhardt. The shock came in the 37th minute: Energy keeper Marius Funk was only able to let a shot from Wehens Tarik Gözusirin bounce to the side. Ex-Nuremberg player Lukas Scheiber pushed the ball over the line to make it 1-0 for Wiesbaden.
But Energie shook himself and responded promptly: Hannemann scored the celebrated 1-1 equalizer with a great finish from a half-right position. The fans in the stadium exploded – and their team also remained dangerous: King Manu put his header just wide of the goal after a corner. The half-time whistle ended the hosts’ pressure phase.
Wollitz makes four substitutions, Cigerci scores
After the break, Cottbus showed an improvement in terms of speed, but offensively they still lacked ideas against compact guests who repeatedly caused pinpricks through counterattacks. Lucky for Energie in the 48th minute: Kaya went down in the penalty area, but the referee did not award a penalty. Justin Butler had a good shot chance on the other side (51′).
The Cottbus team also made an effort afterwards, but in promising situations they too often finished hastily. The four offensive changes (Moustfa, Tolga Cigerci, Locoqui and Biankadi came into the game) that Claus-Dieter Wollitz made initially didn’t change anything. Cigerci still had the best chance, but he didn’t hit the ball properly from eight meters after a cross (77th).
The midfielder did better in the 89th minute. With a powerful shot from 20 meters, Cigerci made it 2-1 and turned the stadium into a madhouse. Cottbus skilfully took the lead over time and now has all the trump cards in the promotion race in their own hands on the last match day in Regensburg.
Cottbus professional Tolga Cigerci celebrates his late winning goal with King Manu.
Player of the game
Thanks to Tolga Cigerci, Energie took a big step towards the 2nd league. Thanks to the courageous individual action of the brother of the suspended top scorer Tolcay Cigerci, Cottbus was able to extend its lead over the direct competition for promotion. So Tolga stepped in for Tolcay and caused all of Cottbus to escalate with his long-range shot in the 89th minute. The 34-year-old was still without a club in the spring and was only signed by Energie in February. Three months later he scored the most important goal of the season for the Lausitz team to date. By the way, he dedicated the goal to his coach, Claus-Dieter Wollitz.
What was going on there?
After the energy fans had said an emotional farewell to the late club legend and honorary president Dieter Krein, there was another highlight in the stands after the game kicked off: the fans showed a monster choreography on the north wall and the back straight. “Everything for energy” could be read there for several blocks. The fans followed this announcement with action and unconditionally pushed their team forward for 97 minutes, so that the energy supporters also deserved a large share in this team’s willpower.
Countable
- Thanks to the two goals from Hannemann and Cigerci, Cottbus now has 71 goals this season. Only Essen (75) and Verl (79) have scored more often in the third division this season
- 19,666 spectators were in the stadium against Wehen Wiesbaden. This means Energie has an average attendance of 12,858 fans per home game this season, putting it in 7th place in the league.
- A total of 40 guest fans made the 600 kilometer journey to Cottbus. SV Wehen Wiesbaden then gave up part of the guest block and so a few more energy fans were able to attend the game
Voices about the game
Claus-Dieter-Wollitz (coach, Energie Cottbus): “We didn’t play well, we used long balls too much. I tried to take the pressure off the team at half-time. The important thing is that the boys are now looking forward to being able to get promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga on their own next week.”
Tolga Cigerci (Energie Cottbus): “I can’t put it into words. There were a lot of emotions in the game. We had to win. With the goal – that’s incredible. Being part of this team, it’s such an experience with these fans here, it’s something very special.”
Broadcast: rbb television, May 9th, 2026, 1:55 p.m
Video: rbb television, May 9th, 2026, Caroline Labes and Christian Dexne
