In front of 8,068 fans in the Carl Benz Stadium on Monday evening, the Mannheimers showed an appealing performance, especially in the first half: Captain Marcel Seegert (8th), Dominik Kother (34th) and Jesper Verlaat (44th) scored the goals for the forest farm Marvin Ajani’s consolation goal in Duisburg (84th) did nothing to change the clear SVW success.
Waldhof wide awake from the start
Waldhof trainer Patrick Glöckner changed things his eleven compared to the 2-1 away win at VfL Osnabrück on a position. Marco Höger played for Marcel Costly, who was suspended, from the start. The first approach to the Duisburg goal dared veteran Marc Schnatterer, who had extended his contract with SVW by one year during the week. MSV goalkeeper Leo Weinkauf cleared his shot from a tight angle to a corner. Duisburg didn’t get this properly defended afterwards and so Schnatterer was able to cross right on Marcel Seegert’s head. Weinkauf fended off his header, but Seegert followed suit and scored the margin to make it 1-0 (8th minute).
Premiere goal for Dominik Kother
The 1-0 lead was no reason for the Waldhof to let up. Again and again he put pressure on the “Zebras”, who were in danger of relegation and could hardly find their way into the duels. John Yeboah had his first mini-chance after an individual performance: However, his shot from the edge of the box was parried by Waldhof keeper Timo Königsmann with ease (18′). There was no real danger for the SVW goal afterwards. Duisburg often played hastily, while Mannheim let the ball run safely and found a lot of space.
Such a thing happened to Dominik Kother in the 34th minute: The 22-year-old moved from the left into the middle, took a dry shot and put the ball in the Duisburg goal from 20 meters. 2-0 for SVW and premiere for Kother: It was his first goal for Mannheim.
And the hosts haven’t had enough. In the 44th minute, Schnatterer curled a corner from the right into the penalty area, Waldhof defender Jesper Verlaat jumped higher than everyone in Duisburg and headed the ball in from six yards out to give the team a deserved 3-0 lead at the break.
SVW takes it easy after the break
At the beginning of the second half, the picture was similar to that before the break: Mannheim in possession, Duisburg without a goal. The most active player on the MSV side was Yeboah, who dared to push forward from time to time. But it was over for him after 55 minutes: Coach Niclas Stierlin took him off the field and brought Kolja Pusch on. In addition, Niko Bretschneider came for Leroy Kwadwo.
MSV improved in the course of the second half, because the home side, with a clear 3-0 lead behind them, let the zebras come more and more. But there weren’t any great goal opportunities for Duisburg. Instead, the Waldhof lurked for a counterattack and – driven by the strong Dominik Kother – played out one or the other chance. For example, Dominik Martinovic (65th, 71st) missed the 4-0.
Ajani manages the consolation goal
Instead, the MSV managed the consolation goal. Substitute Pusch played the ball to Marvin Ajani, who flicked the ball into the far corner from 16 meters to make it 3-1 (84′). However, the goal did not change anything in Mannheim’s convincing victory.
Thanks to the success in fifth place, SVW ranks two points behind 1860 Munich. The four best teams are automatically qualified for the next season in the DFB Cup. MSV Duisburg, in 15th place, has to worry about staying in the 3rd division.
Source: SWR