Before the home game against SV Darmstadt 98, Preußen Münster still had remaining hopes of a relegation place in the 2nd Bundesliga. But they were permanently destroyed.
Because the Prussians absolutely needed a win and so the 1:1 (1:1) against the Darmstadt team, which they fought for after being outnumbered for just under an hour on Sunday, was not enough. Despite a decent performance in the last home game of the season, the bottom of the table is the first to be relegated. Which would also have been the case if they had won, because Fortuna Düsseldorf won against SV Elversberg in the parallel game. This made the relegation place no longer mathematically attainable.
Two years after promotion, Münster is back in the 3rd league; last season the Prussians were 15th in the table. still held the class. Darmstadt remains in fifth place, but could still be overtaken by Hertha BSC on the last matchday.
Münster’s Schwartz: “Sad day”
Münster’s coach Alois Schwartz spoke to the Sportschau about one “sad day”, but was annoyed because of stupid mistakes in the last three games. But he also praised the commitment of his team: “It was a good face.”
Darmstadt’s coach Florian Kohfeldt saw two aspects of satisfaction on the sports show microphone: “If you apply the normal standards of a performance that we want to show, then of course not.” Given the thin staffing situation with only 14 professionals “It’s hardly allowed to play a second division game, so it’s okay to take a point here”.
Yamada strikes early for Münster
In Münster, the weakened Darmstadt team started strong with quick chances for Matej Maglica and Raoul Petretta. But the eagle bearers took the lead: Jorrit Hendrix’s ball, which had been hit far, slipped through to Shin Yamada and he marched towards the box and finished with a shot from 15 meters into the half-right corner to make it 1-0 (8th). The Münster hope lived – but only for seven minutes and with the active help of the hosts. Then Isac Lidberg received a failed back pass from Babis Makridis, dribbled through and finished from 13 meters into the left corner (15th). 1:1.
Once again Yamada could have given Prussia another lead with a double chance, but was denied twice by keeper Marcel Schuhen. A little later, the hosts’ hopes were dealt a big blow: Captain Hendrix took an open-soled tackle against Corredor and was rightly immediately shown red by referee Lukas Benen (28′). Since at the same time Düsseldorf was leading against Elversberg and Fürth was holding a draw against Hertha, things now looked very bleak for the Prussians.
Münster’s Schenk saves the penalty kick
And if it wasn’t for Johannes Schenk, the game would probably have been over in the 37th minute. The Prussian keeper saved a penalty shot from Lidberg that was shot too casually. But even without falling behind again, Münster mainly retreated to their own 16, no longer had any chances to score – and after a wild 45 minutes they were relegated at half-time.
Did the hosts manage to at least do their own homework in the second half? It didn’t look like that at first. The game was disjointed, the decimated Prussians were hoping for a surprising match winner and the Darmstadt team didn’t throw everything into the balance.
Darmstadt’s Maglica blocks Münster’s Bouchama
And suddenly this one moment seemed to have arrived: Yassine Bouchama appeared behind the high Darmstadt defense. He got to the penalty area, tried to shoot – and was blocked at the last second by Matej Maglica with a tackle (64th).
Darmstadt remained superior, but didn’t have more than a few half chances. But the resistance of the Prussians, who were probably also aware of Düsseldorf’s secure lead in the parallel game, slowly faded away. In addition, the long period of being outnumbered had cost them strength. And so the fans in the stadium got to see the last whistle of a Prussian second division home game for at least one season.
Münster in Elversberg, Darmstadt against Paderborn
On the last match day, Münster will be guests at SV Elversberg, who are still fighting for promotion to the Bundesliga, as well as SC Paderborn, who Darmstadt will host for the season finale (both Sunday, 3:30 p.m.).
