A stumbled goal, a tactical trick and a first goal burst all knots at Hallesches FC at once. Bottom light Bayreuth was clearly beaten 3-0 at a liberation festival, coach André Meyer saves his job with a creative move. After five league games without a win, Halle is climbing out of the relegation zone and is now in 15th place with 13 points.
In his next fateful game, coach André Meyer tried a change from the 1-1 draw in Aue and that included a new tactical trick. He ordered defender Sören Reddemann to replace attacker Dominik Steczyk in the starting XI. Surprisingly, Meyer sent defensive boss Jonas Nietfeld into the center of the attack, otherwise he messed up his line-up so that he was able to return to the back four in a 4:3:3 system.
Thigh gate frees the HFC chest
In front of 6,526 spectators, an open exchange of blows developed at high speed, in which Bayreuth did not hide at all and even had many good half-chances, at least in the beginning. But Halle had the first big exclamation marks: A free kick from Niklas Kreuzer over the wall (23rd) and a header from Nietfeld (25th) forced guest keeper Sebastian Kolbe to do two brilliant acts. Then Tom Zimmerschied redeemed the people of Saalestadt! A cross from the left sent Kreuzer nodding across the middle from a half-right position, where the ball bounced off Zimmerschied’s thigh and from there into the goal – 1:0 (32nd)! A crazy hit, as the offensive man almost stumbled over the line with the ball. Significant: Halle scored for the first time in 379 minutes and then something crooked.
After the thigh contact, Tom Zimmerschied ran the ball over the goal line to make it 1-0.
Nietfeld finds his nose for goal
The gaming association attempted to respond immediately. But Felix Gebhardt was a strong support for both a header from Jann George and the rebound from Alexander Nollenberger (37th) that followed immediately! Nietfeld was able to dust off the other side in classic centre-forward style after a turning shot by Nico Hug to make it 2-0 (45th). Meyer’s tactical move stung and saved him the job. Although Nietfeld was trained as a striker in the youth team at Rot-Weiss Erfurt, he has so far mainly been used as a central defender or in midfield in Halle. Apparently he hadn’t lost his nose for goal!
Here Jonas Nietfeld dusted Hug to 2-0 (45th) after a save by Bayreuth keeper Kolbe.
Pole Steczyk scores the first goal
In the second half, the red-whites dominated the game much more clearly than in the balanced first round! Only once did you really have to tremble when Hug almost spooned a cross into his own box. Gebhardt was also wary of teammates Hug (72′). In the end it was all the better for the HFC. Even substitute Dominik Steczyk grabbed his first goal. The Polish newcomer to Sturm, who was signed as a beacon of hope, left two men standing in a solo and pushed the ball into the far corner for the preliminary decision with the left to make it 3-0 (75th). His first goal in the eighth league game, you could see his stones falling from his heart during the celebration. After that, the Meyer-Elf could have won even higher.
André Meyer can take a deep breath, his job is secure for now.
