After four years in the second German league, Fortuna Düsseldorf is close to returning to Germany’s top flight. Coach Daniel Thioune’s team won the relegation first leg against Kevin Stöger’s VfL Bochum 3-0 (1-0) on Thursday and can secure promotion in front of their home crowd on Monday.
IMAGO/Treese/Ralf
Under the watchful eye of German team player and ex-Bochum player Leon Goretzka, who was not nominated for the home European Championship, Philipp Hofmann (13th) scored an own goal, Felix Klaus (64th) and Yannik Engelhardt (73rd) scored the Düsseldorf goals.
Stöger, one of Bochum’s best players in the last Bundesliga season, tried hard but was unable to have a decisive influence on the defensively vulnerable and offensively harmless performance of the sixteenth-placed team. Düsseldorf’s ÖFB legionnaire Marlon Mustapha was not in the squad in Bochum.
