Fortuna Düsseldorf had its back to the wall on the penultimate matchday of the 2nd Bundesliga, but found its form in time: Fortuna won 3-1 (2-0) against second-placed SV Elversberg on Sunday and thus left the relegation zone.
An own goal from Florian Le Joncour (26th) gave Düsseldorf the lead, and top scorer Cedric Itten (44th, 52nd) increased the score with a brace. Elversberg only scored with a late own goal from Tim Oberdorf (90+1).
“We knew what we needed, and that was noticeable from the start thanks to the fans and the players, who were there with full energy in every duel,” Double goalscorer Itten told the sports show. “As a result, we played one of the best games of the season today.”
Düsseldorf has Relegation final in Fürth
Düsseldorf climbed to 15th place and has relegation in its own hands against second-to-last Greuther Fürth (1:2 at Hertha BSC) on the last matchday. There is only a risk of direct relegation if there is a defeat by more than two goals. With a win, Fortuna would also avoid relegation.
As expected, coach Alexander Ende remained sober in the Sportschau interview and spoke of a final next Sunday. “We haven’t achieved anything today, we’ve just worked out a good starting position. Now we’re going full throttle towards Fürth this week to give everything we’ve got in this game.”
SV Elversberg continues with good Opportunities for advancement
Elversberg’s successful coach Vincent Wagner said Düsseldorf was “maybe just a bit better” been: “At the end of the day it was just not enough to win here.”
His team can still determine its own fate because of the better goal difference compared to their pursuers with the same points. Hannover would have to make up six goals on the last matchday, Paderborn even ten goals.
A home win at the end of the season against relegated Preußen Münster should be enough to secure promotion – it would be a huge success for the small club. All games kick off on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. Wagner called it one “It’s a luxury that we can play for promotion to the Bundesliga on matchday 34.”
Nervous start between Düsseldorf and Elversberg
At the beginning the nervousness was clearly noticeable on both sides. After the successes of the competition from Magdeburg and Braunschweig, Düsseldorf absolutely needed a win, otherwise there was a risk of falling into the direct relegation zone.
But Elversberg also had something to lose. After the mistakes in Hanover and Paderborn, the Saarlanders were clear favorites in the promotion race, the game in Düsseldorf was like a match point.
The excited spectators saw committed duels in the first 20 minutes, but only a few offensive actions. Both teams shied away from taking risks.
Düsseldorf lead without their own shot on goal
Then Düsseldorf’s Marin Ljubicic had the brilliant idea on the left. He tunneled through Maximilian Rohr and passed into the center. Goalkeeper Nicolas Kristof could probably have intercepted the ball, but Le Joncour made an unfortunate straddle, it was the Elversberger’s third own goal of the season.
For Union Berlin loanee Ljubicic, however, it was the first time he was involved in a goal in the Düsseldorf jersey. Curious: Fortuna hadn’t fired a single shot on goal at this point, but they were leading 1-0.
Itten increased for Fortuna before the break
The game then picked up speed, with Düsseldorf being the slightly better team. Elversberg seemed surprisingly inhibited and barely got into any finishing positions.
But Fortuna stepped up shortly before the break. Shinta Appelkamp crossed from the left to the second post, where Itten had run in and headed into the right corner from five meters.
Düsseldorf also improved in the second half
After the break the same picture: Düsseldorf was better and Itten scored. This time he saw that Kristof had slipped as he ran out. Itten lofted the ball over Elversberg’s goalkeeper and into the goal.
Cedric Itten celebrates his goal to make it 3-0
It was the center forward’s 15th goal of the season; without his goal threat, Fortuna would have been relegated long ago. This is particularly evident in these statistics: Without Itten being involved in a goal, Düsseldorf has only achieved one win this season.
Yellow suspension for Fortunas Itten and Zimmermann
The 64th minute was all the more bitter from Fortuna’s point of view. Itten impetuously went into a duel with Lukas Petkov and was rightly shown a yellow card. It was his fifth booking of the season, meaning he will miss the season finale under suspension. The same applies to veteran Matthias Zimmermann, he had already seen his fifth yellow card in the 30th minute.
The barrier is “very annoying”, Itten said. He slipped before his foul: “Unfortunately I can only support the team from outside now.” Coach Ende remained optimistic and pointed out that his team had already coped with numerous other failures in the past few weeks.
Oberdorf deflects Elversberger’s corner into his own goal
Düsseldorf confidently played home its clear lead against Elversberg; the guests were only dangerous once more with a shot from David Mokwa (76′). In stoppage time they were lucky that Düsseldorf’s Oberdorf slightly deflected a corner at the near post, so that the ball slipped through the arms of goalkeeper Florian Kastemaier to make the final score 3-1.
