Bundesliga 2nd Division Wrap

False start for 1860 – There were great expectations for TSV 1860 München but the team fell short in the first match of the season against Eintracht Braunschweig with the result of 3-1.

The game started with a shock for the Munich Lions as Braunschweig scored in the 6th minute thanks to a header from the captain Dennis Kruppke, which allowed the loud home crowd to celebrate immediately. The long-praised defensive strength that 1860 displayed during the entire preseason vanished so quickly at the beginning of their first match.

After the goal Munich started to play acceptable football with dominant ball possession which led them to reach the equalizer in the twenty-third minute. Goal scorer was the youngster Kevin Volland, who took advantage of the confusion in the box following a set piece and managed to score from a few meters from the goal line. Eintracht argued with the referee Knut Kirchner because of a foul on their goalkeeper Marjan Petkovic,  but Kirchner decided to allow the goal.

The equalizer gave confidence to the visitors who kept playing decently, but football can be very cruel sometimes. Munich were shocked again and this time when they were playing well.  In the 35th minute Nico Zimmermann scored a wonderful goal with a shot from the distance which gave no chance to 1860 keeper Gabor Kiraly. The lead contributed to undermine the Lions' confidence, especially their defense.

Five minutes later Munich’s defender Stefan Buck made an unforgivable mistake in his half court by losing the ball in a crucial position.  Kruppke took advantage of this oversight by assisting forward Dominick Kumbela in the box. All alone the Congolese could not miss that huge chance, so in a twinkle Braunschweig were able to build a two-goal lead.  

Second half started with another shock for TSV.  Buck was careless in his defense and his foul led to a penalty, but the chance was wasted by Kruppke. With a little bit of luck, Munich were still alive, but most of their hopes vanished between 58th and 60th minutes. At first Buck finished his bad day with a 2nd yellow, then Munich’s wing Daniel Halfar hit the bar from the distance.

After that unfortunate episode the visitors continued with their prolonged ball possession, while the hosts were always ready to worry their opponents with counter-attack actions, but the result stayed the same until the end of the game.

Next week Braunschweig will play Aachen, while TSV will host Karlsruhe at Allianz Arena, kick-off Saturday, 15:30).   1860 head coach Reiner Maurer can rejoice in his team’s ability to keep the ball, but his men missed some precision in the opponent’s half court and could not count on the best from Benjamin Lauth and Collin Benjamin. Those two proved today not to be in shape, but as soon as they are able to contribute the team could really make an important step forward. Of course the defensive flaws are also to be erased, let’s see if Maurer will be able to take back the impressive defensive stability that 1860 showed during the preseason.

Greuther Fürth, that was a bitter epilogue – Unbelievable, but true! Bitter and upset faces left the Trolli-Arena in Fürth on Friday night after the final whistle. After the first half, the hosts were leading comfortably 2-0 against Eintracht Frankfurt thanks to Christopher Nöthe two goals.

Everything indicated that there would be a big party for Fürth’s fans, but in the second half the unexpected happened. Frankfurt managed in the first twenty minutes of the second half to reach the equalizer thanks to Alexander Meier’s own two goals.  

And then in the 89th minute, the final nail in Greuther’s coffin was shot in by substitute Karim Matmour.  He took a shot from the distance and there was no chance to save it because the ball was deflected by Fürth’s Heinrich Schmidtgal. Final result then 2-3, more than a wasted chance for Fürth. The Bavarians are expected now to play next week at Berlin, to play against Union, while Frankfurt will host St. Pauli.

Boll knocks Ingolstadt out – FC Ingolstadt were expected to be tested by St. Pauli, a team relegated from the Bundesliga. Benno Möhlmann’s men performed capably against the Hanseatic team, but it was not enough to pick up any points.

Man of the match was St. Pauli’s Fabian Boll, who scored twice in the second half. Ingolstadt were not able to come back.  Next Friday the Bavarians will host Erzgebirge Aue, while the club from northern Germany will face Eintracht Frankfurt.