Warning of squalls! The sun had had everything under control in Ulm all day, but just in time for the first sold-out football game in 23 years, the Danube Stadium was hit by a storm, with gusts of 60 km/h according to the forecast. Much to the guests’ chagrin, because TSV 1860 Munich was trailing 0-1 after just nine minutes in this third division game – they could confidently give the wind an assist on the goal. Sixty’s goalkeeper Marco Hiller looked unhappy with this goal, he could only watch as a cross from the right side went over his head into the far corner. Bastian Allgeier’s strange hit was the only one, and from the Lions’ point of view the wind was the deciding factor. “The wind was very difficult for us to get into the game, every long ball got stuck,” Sixty’s captain Jesper Verlaat later analyzed at Magentasport. To be fair, it should be noted that the Ulm team had less headwind in the second half, but also played flat more often. The victory for the newly promoted team was well-deserved for that reason alone: because they were stronger in terms of play than the sixties.
17,000 spectators came, almost half of them cheered on the sixties – and probably all of them initially cheered on the electric lawn mower, which didn’t want to leave the field and delayed kick-off. The Sixties simply couldn’t cope with the external circumstances, but especially not with the attacking play of the newly promoted team, which dominated the game in the first few minutes. Immediately before the 1-0 lead, Ulm’s Philipp Maier had a header chance that was saved.
Niklas Lang has to save in dire need and in the process he sustains an injury
Sixty’s coach Maurizio Jacobacci had made little changes to the line-up compared to the 1-0 win against Verl three days earlier. Julian Guttau returned after illness. Midfielder Tim Rieder was in central defense, while Niklas Lang moved to the right side. However, the 21-year-old had to help out directly in front of the goal in the 22nd minute when Felix Higl came free to shoot. Lang made a decisive impact, the ball hit the side netting, but he didn’t get up after that. Minutes later he left the field with his knee heavily bandaged and Kilian Ludewig came to replace him. The guests were able to keep the game even until half-time, but Eroll Zejnullahu wasted the best opportunity to equalize when he didn’t finish and put a tentative cross pass into the opponent’s legs (31′). A minute later, Zejnullahu tested Ulm keeper Christian Ortag with a well-placed long-range shot.
The second half started like the first, with Ulm clearly setting the tone. What was striking was how straightforward Thomas Wörle’s team played forward in this phase and let their opponents run into nothing. Dennis Chessa missed the best opportunity to make it 2-0 when he narrowly missed a cross pass from Jann (52′). Coach Jacobacci saw the yellow card because he complained about time play directly on the opponent for the second time, the Munich fans who had traveled fired an above-average amount of pyrotechnics – but sixty on the field, that was by far the most unspectacular thing that evening. There were a few long periods of possession, but without a goal. It still remained strange: Sixty’s captain Jesper Verlaat was frightened when a firecracker rained down near him, and referee Lars Erbst apparently lost radio contact with his assistants for a short time.
As time ran out for the Sixties despite the many interruptions, their actions became more hectic, but not more dangerous. Jacobacci kept shouting into the field, the wind ruffled his hair, but it didn’t help: his team found no means against a low-lying opponent, no means against the dangerous counterattacks. “We played too hastily in the second half,” said Jacobacci. His captain Verlaat’s anger had not yet subsided: “That annoys me, we can’t put the punch forward, I don’t think we had any chance to score in the second half.” After two hard-fought victories, unimaginative lions will be required next Saturday against the top team from Dynamo Dresden.
