An efficient Kevin Sessa scored twice (38′, 42′) for 1. FC Heidenheim to win 2-0 in the Swabian-Baden duel against Karlsruher SC. The 10,599 spectators in the Heidenheimer Arena saw the visitors get off to a better start on Sunday afternoon (May 15). After six games without a win, KSC wanted to end the season with a sense of achievement and give top striker Philipp Hofmann a worthy farewell. The striker had his in early May Change from Karlsruhe to first division club Bochum announced.
Accordingly, the Badeners put pressure on from the start and pushed the hosts into their own half. And Hofmann actually had the first big chance to score (5th minute): Heidenheim’s defense didn’t bother the striker significantly, so that Hofmann was able to process a cross from Jakob with his chest and finish it. However, the ball only hit the right Heidenheimer post.
Heidenheim initially unfocused in the build-up game
The hosts did not take place at all in the first quarter of an hour. Too many passes didn’t arrive in the build-up game, the Karlsruhe team often had an easy time conquering the balls. However, they were unable to convert their superiority in midfield into further scoring opportunities. FCH only got a little more active after twenty minutes and ventured into the KSC penalty area. Karlsruhe goalkeeper Max Weiß, who made his professional debut in goal, still didn’t have much to hold on to.
Heidenheim coach Frank Schmidt had to make a change after just half an hour: Christian Kühlwetter came on for the ailing Andreas Geipl, who had sprained his foot during a defensive reaction. Heidenheim had meanwhile gained more security and gave the Karlsruhers less space – except for an action in the 37th minute when Jakob took a shot from sixteen meters and hit the ball with a powerful shot on the crossbar. It was already the second aluminum hit for the guests.
KSC makes the game, Heidenheim meets
The lead of the guests a minute later was all the more surprising: Kevin Sessa (38th) came into possession of the ball in the KSC penalty area after a cross from Marnon Busch, who prevailed on the right side, and was able to take the ball undisturbed by the KSC defense to 1 Insert :0. The gameplay was turned upside down.
And Heidenheim stepped up again shortly before the break: over four stops, Heidenheim freed Sessa again, who appeared alone in front of keeper Weiß in the penalty area. From eleven meters, the offensive player made it 2-0 for the hosts. This lead went into the half-time break.
Karlsruhe with chances of a goal
The Karlsruhe team came out of this with a little more momentum. They immediately tried to build up pressure again in order to reconnect as quickly as possible. Driven by a very active Kilian Jakob, KSC repeatedly played their way into the Heidenheim half and should have marked the connection after 58 minutes. Malik Batmaz put it across to Fabian Schleusener, who only had the empty goal and defender Oliver Hüsing in front of him, but couldn’t put the ball in the FC box. It should have been 1:2.
The hosts survived the urge phase of Karlsruhe unscathed, KSC seemed increasingly helpless and only rarely appeared in front of Heidenheim goalkeeper Kevin Müller. The FCH, on the other hand, hadn’t had enough of scoring goals and scored twice more in the Karlsruhe net. However, both attempts by Tim Kleindienst (59′) and Robert Leipertz (79′) were called off by referee Florian Heft for being narrowly offside.
Heidenheim climbs to sixth place
So it stayed with the 2-0 home win for the FCH, through which the Swabians their eighth second division season finished sixth in the table with 52 points. For the KSC, the season ends after seven games in a row without a win in twelfth place in the table.
Source: SWR