In a crazy exchange of blows with a total of nine goals, bottom team Greuther Fürth missed a spectacular comeback against 1. FC Magdeburg. The Franconians, who were defensively confused in the first 30 minutes, had to admit defeat 4:5 (3:5) to the guests led by triple goalscorer Mateusz Zukowski in the wild basement duel in the second Bundesliga. The first leg also ended 5:4 – at that time it was still for Fürth.
Six days after the 2-1 win at Holstein Kiel, the Fürth team, who were not shocked by a 5-1 deficit, suffered a depressing setback in the fight to stay in the league. After two home defeats in a row, the Magdeburgers gained some breathing room in the relegation battle and are now temporarily twelfth in the table.
The Fürth fans in the stadium were even happy about Brynjar Bjarnason taking the lead (8th minute). But after the unfortunate equalizer from the home team’s point of view through Remo Münz’s arc lamp (13th) into their own goal, the Magdeburg team dismantled the cloverleaf defense. Zukowski (15th, 29th, 32nd) and Rayan Ghrieb (23rd) seemingly made everything clear after a good 30 minutes.
The Magdeburgers were often disoriented even on defense. In front of 11,061 spectators, Doni Arifi (43rd), Jan Elvedi (45th + 5) and, shortly after the change, new signing Sayfallah Ltaief (46th) took advantage of this with his debut goal to shorten the score to the joy of the stands. The Magdeburg team saved the three with a clearance on the line (90th + 7).
Fürth’s coach Heiko Vogel, who completely unexpectedly took his top scorer Noel Futkeu out of the starting line-up, fumed in the dugout for a long time. Before the break, he brought on Philipp Ziereis (37th) for the offensive Aiman Dardari to secure the defense. The people of Fürth didn’t give up and fought their way back. But at one point it was no longer enough.
Meanwhile, VfL Bochum has remained unbeaten for more than two months. In the Westphalia duel at Preußen Münster, the relegated team played 1:1 (0:1) and extended their series to eight games without defeat. Imad Rondic gave Münster the lead in the 35th minute with a remarkable lob. Koji Miyoshi scored in the 59th minute to make it 1-1.
After the seventh game without a win in a row, the Prussians could fall back into a direct relegation zone this weekend. In front of 10,642 spectators, Bochum was initially the superior team and also had their first big chance in the twelfth minute: the Japanese Miyoshi was denied by Münster’s keeper Johannes Schenk in front of the goal.
However, fifteenth-placed Münster held their own in this exciting duel. Even before the score was 1-0, Imar Rondic and Torge Paetow hindered each other from a good Prussian chance (26th). Even after the equalizer in the second half, the outsider played courageously forward. Jano ter Horst (64th) and Paetow (66th) failed twice more against Bochum goalkeeper Timo Horn.
Despite the hosts’ commitment, VfL was the more dangerous team in the second half. However, coach Uwe Rösler’s team played several promising attacks too rashly. Winter newcomer Oliver Olsen missed the best chance to make it 2-1 in stoppage time (90th + 3).
