A success of the will gives 1. FC Heidenheim three points against leaders Darmstadt 98. in the 2nd Bundesliga. Jan-Niklas Beste became the match winner on Saturday evening (03/04/2023). The Hessians remain at the top of the table, the advantage of the “Lilien” over Hamburger SV melted down to just one point after the Hanseatic League’s success against Nuremberg.
For his part, Heidenheim is only two points behind HSV and can also think more and more about promotion to the football upper house. In the game, which was intense from the start, the hosts had the best chance to take the lead in the 21st minute: Patrick Mainka headed a corner from Jan-Niklas Beste from the right, but put the ball on the crossbar.
After a good half hour, the guests from Hesse cheered – but only briefly: Fabian Holland served Phillip Tietz, who headed into the Heidenheim goal from a narrow offside position.
The hosts were unlucky when, in the first half of the game, Denis Thomalla had to leave the field injured after a duel and Florian Pick also had to leave the field after a blow to the thigh shortly after the start of the second period.
Big chance for the FCH shortly after the break
The visitors got off to a better start in the second half, but the home side created the first big chances. Marcel Schuhen in the “Lilien” box had to stretch a lot after a Jan Schöppner header.
Fabian Schnellhardt later missed Darmstadt’s greatest chance in the middle of the second period when he pushed a free kick from almost 20 meters with feeling but without luck into the Heidenheimer Mauer.
Hosts with a lot of pressure – then salvation
In the final phase of the game, the Ostalb team pushed for the winning goal. Beste fired a shot from the inside left over the Darmstadt goal after Zimmermann kicked over the ball while moving backwards.
The jubilation was endless when Jan-Niklas Beste scored the winning goal in the 89th minute. Stefan Schimmer had served Beste, who hit the Darmstadt goal from eleven meters. A little later, Heidenheim’s Dženis Burnić saw yellow-red: In a Darmstadt counterattack, he pulled the tactical foul – with a yellow bias.
The defeat of the Hessians was the first bankruptcy since the first matchday. “It was such a game: whoever scores the first goal wins. It was a total attrition. In the end, it was just that one moment.”said Darmstadt’s keeper Marcel Schuhen on “Sky” and added with a view to the ended series: “We’ve made it sensational up to this point. That’s the decisive factor.”
Heidenheim again with a top game
On the 24th matchday, Heidenheim is challenged away in Düsseldorf (Saturday, March 11th, 2023 at 8:30 p.m.). Darmstadt plays in Bielefeld seven and a half hours earlier.