The top scorer in the 2nd Bundesliga is Tim Kleindienst. The 1. FC Heidenheim striker has already scored 20 times this season. On Saturday he is challenged against FC St. Pauli.
There’s just no stopping this man. In the last eleven second division games alone, Tim Kleindienst scored no fewer than 14 times in the opponent’s goal, a sensational interim result. The 1. FC Heidenheim striker is the top scorer with 20 goals this season, followed by Hamburger SV’s Robert Glatzel (16 goals).
20 goals after 24 games, he’s never had that before. Ratios that have been known almost exclusively from ex-Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski in recent years. So Tim Kleindienst a kind of ‘Lewandowski from 1. FC Heidenheim’? In any case, he’s playing in the form of his life: “Yes, probably, I haven’t had a quota like that before,” confirms the tall goalgetter of SWR Sport’s assessment, “but we’re also incredibly effective this season, making a few chances the goals”.
Kleindienst’s thanks go to those who provided the templates
In addition: Without good teammates, as Kleindienst himself knows, nothing works: “I can’t score goals if I don’t get them put forward. I also need assists. Whether Pick, Beste, Föhrenbach, I have to thank them, that I also get these balls,” says Tim Kleindienst. “This year we are also characterized by the fact that we always get into the offensive game well. I hope that it will continue like this”.
Spectacular four-pack against Nuremberg
The outstanding performances at the 5-0 in February against 1. FC Nürnberg: Four Pack! And in March in a 5-2 win against Karlsruher SC: Triple pack! Tim Kleindienst, who grew up at Energie Cottbus, is not only known for his goal threat. The fast-moving attacker constantly presses and repeatedly evades onto the wings.
Annoying penalty miss in Kaiserslautern
Only once did Tim Kleindienst aim too accurately. And that in turn was terribly annoying: last Saturday he could have increased the lead to 3-0 for FCH with a penalty in added time in the game in Kaiserslautern. Kleindienst put the ball on the right post.
It was the beginning of a last-minute drama: After the penalty miss, the Palatinate equalized in one spectacular final phase within 120 seconds to 2:2 out of. An unbelievable course of the game: “Despite the missed penalty, we gave away two points,” Tim Kleindienst shook his head, “after all, we were still 2-0 up. And the fact that you then play 2-2 goes beyond that every imagination.”
“Drama Queen” 1. FC Heidenheim
Assigned tours, not for the first time. In the dramatic home game on February 11 against Hamburger SV, Heidenheim even lost a comfortable 3-0 lead, in the end it was a 3-3 draw against their promotion rivals from the north. The FCH, a kind of “drama queen of the 2nd league”.
“I would also prefer it if we had these tours across the stage, we have to stop that in the last eight games. We have to grow up a bit in the future,” says a thoughtful Tim Kleindienst in an interview with SWR Sport. “But maybe we’re still missing a bit to become an absolute top team, that also makes us vulnerable. Maybe it’s a mental thing unconsciously.”
But Heidenheim can also be dramatic in reverse: FCH caught up 0:2 in the 5:2 against Karlsruher SC. Against Regensburg (5: 4) and against Darmstadt (1-0) the Swabians won shortly before the goal closed.
Kleindienst and the FCH as good as ever
Back to Tim Kleindienst: The outstanding hit rate of the 27-year-old from Brandenburg is also reflected in the table. Heidenheim have never been as good in the second division as they were in spring 2023. With 51 points after 26 matchdays, Württemberg are second in the table and take a tight course towards the Bundesliga. “We can really achieve something that is unique for the club,” Tim Kleindienst also dreams of Heidenheim’s promotion: “But we also have to be aware that we can still screw up a lot in the last eight games in good German. That’s why we now have to go into every game as a kind of endgame.”
62 goals in 162 second division games
In the meantime, Tim Kleindienst’s overall record after 132 second division games has an impressive 62 goals. In the Bundesliga, the tall striker scored twice in 26 games for SC Freiburg. It goes without saying that he would like to add one or two more goals to his first division CV. Preferably, of course, in the jersey of 1. FC Heidenheim, with whom he has long since felt at home after the detours at SC Freiburg and Gent
On Saturday evening against serial winner St. Pauli
But the next tricky task is just around the corner: On Saturday evening (8:30 p.m.), the series winner from St. Pauli will come to the Heidenheim Arena, which is already sold out. The Kiez-Kicker have recently won nine times in a row under their new coach Fabian Hürzeler, rolled up the second division field from behind and could also pose a threat to FCH in terms of promotion places: “This is the team of the moment. Nine wins in a row, that’s crazy”, Tim Kleindienst also raises his imaginary hat in front of the intermediate sprint of the Hamburg team, “we have to go full throttle again”.
In any case, Tim Kleindienst is ready. For the next goal towards the Bundesliga.
