Darmstadt beats Hannover and increases the pressure on HSV
Unbeaten in 14 games: With a bit of luck, Darmstadt 98 will defend the lead in the table and can dream of promotion. In the table basement of the second division, Sandhausen manages an important away win.
Dhe SV Darmstadt 98 remains the leader of the table in the 2nd Bundesliga even after the 15th matchday. The southern Hesse team celebrated a 1-0 (0-0) win against Hannover 96 on Friday evening and initially extended their lead over Hamburger SV to four points. In front of 15,475 spectators, Marvin Mehlem scored the winning goal in the 62nd minute for Lilien, who have been unbeaten in 16 competitive games.
Marvin Mehlem celebrates
Quelle: Getty Images
The guests from Lower Saxony had to play outnumbered from the 30th minute after Phil Neumann blocked a shot from Jannik Müller with his hand just before the goal line in the style of a goalkeeper and saw the red card for preventing a clear goal chance after video evidence. However, Tobias Kempe missed the due penalty, which was denied by Hanover goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler.
At the beginning both teams fought a balanced duel. The first chance for Darmstadt was missed by Oscar Vilhelmsson, who only hit the side netting with his head. On the other side, Havard Nielsen failed after a nice individual performance by Darmstadt goalkeeper Marcel Schuhen. Referee Benjamin Cortus refused to recognize a goal by Kempe from distance because Phillip Tietz was offside.
Even after the change, Darmstadt remained dominant and rewarded themselves for their efforts with the lead by Mehlem, who hit the left corner with a well-placed shot from 20 meters. After that, Müller missed further top-class opportunities with a flick from the side of the penalty area, which Zieler fended off brilliantly, and Tietz, who shot the ball past Zieler’s goal after a mistake by Jannik Dehm, who had just come on as a substitute.
Hansa Rostock – SV Sandhausen 0: 1 (0: 1)
Second division soccer team Hansa Rostock can no longer win at home. Coach Jens Härtel’s team suffered their third home bankruptcy in a row on Friday evening with a 0-1 (0-1) loss against SV Sandhausen and missed the opportunity to increase the distance to the bottom of the table. Christian Kinsombi (45th minute) scored the goal in front of 24,000 spectators in the Ostseestadion for the guests, who improved to 13th place in the table with their first away win of the season.
In front of a magnificent backdrop, the home side, who started with the best players, could have taken the lead early on. However, a header from centre-forward John Verhoek from a corner by Svante Ingelsson flew just over the bar in the fifth minute. For a long time, that remained the only high point in the Hanseatic League’s pompous attacking game.
A textbook counterattack helped Sandhausen to take the half-time lead, which was not undeserved. Christian Kinsombi netted after his brother David had done the work. Hansa’s goalkeeper Markus Kolke had no defense. After the restart, Rostock struggled to equalize, but kept getting stuck in the defensive bulwark of the guests.
