19th matchday
Bielefeld (dpa) – Gonzalo Castro already found the 15-minute short assignment exhausting, but the ex-national player has not forgotten his excellent shooting technique even after a six-month break.
The winter newcomer saved Arminia Bielefeld from a sensitive setback in the fight for staying in the league with a remarkable long-range shot in the 83rd minute. Castro averted the impending defeat in the 2:2 (1:1) of East Westphalia in a basement duel with SpVgg Greuther Fürth. Nevertheless, Arminia missed the chance to leave the relegation zone for the first time since the beginning of October.
“We can be satisfied with the point because the game didn’t give any more,” said Castro, who was without a club for a good six months until his commitment at the end of December, on the DAZN streaming service. “The 15 minutes were exhausting, because it was back and forth. We absolutely needed a goal. I’m slowly noticing in training that it’s getting better every day.” There was great praise from Bielefeld’s coach Frank Kramer: “He took the ball superbly, took all the risk. Gonzo knows when to be there.”
“The team is alive”
The Fürth team had previously turned the game around with goals from Jamie Leweling (35′) and Havard Nielsen (67′) in front of 750 spectators in the Schüco Arena. But that was enough for the first point in the tenth away game. However, the eleven point gap to relegation place 16 is still considerable.
“The team is alive. We also played a lot of good games in the preliminary round, just not more than 90 minutes. We’re making fewer individual mistakes now. That’s why we’re better and more stable now. I would have liked to have taken three points,” said Fürth’s coach Stefan Leitl .
Bielefeld, who had previously scored seven points from three games, had taken an early lead through Masaya Okugawa (8′). “We got into the game well and took the lead early on. Then we became too passive. Then there’s a team like Fürth,” complained Kramer, adding: “It was a willful effort to come back. The squad has character there proven.”
Okugawa scores for the lead
A successful start in the basement duel fueled the belief in a continuation of the positive trend in the recently strong Arminia. Because the first good opportunity brought the 1:0. After a pass from Florian Krüger, Okugawa hit the far corner with a well-placed low shot from the inside right. The Japanese once again proved to be an important support for East Westphalia and scored in the fourth game in a row.
However, the guests were not particularly impressed by the false start and settled into the opposing half in the minutes after the goal. The many crosses of the clover leaves in the penalty area caused the Bielefeld cover only a few problems. Therefore, the goal guarded by goalkeeper Stefan Ortega was initially not in danger.
However, that should change in the 35th minute. In a manner worth seeing, the fast Leweling prevailed in a running duel against Bielefeld defender Andrés Andrade and finished coldly to 1:1. Only after this equalization did the Armina intensify their attacking efforts again. However, she did not create any more chances to score until half-time.
Arminia cannot control the game
After the restart, the visitors were closer to the lead. But Bielefeld’s goalkeeper Ortega was there when Timothy Tillman (53′) free-kicked. As in the first half, the favored Arminia failed to control the game. This encouraged Greuther Fürth to launch further attacks.
Coach Stefan Leitl showed good instincts when Nielsen came on. With the first touch of the ball – less than 30 seconds after stepping onto the pitch – the Norwegian headed in after a cross and made it 2-1. But Castro managed to equalize for Bielefeld.
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