MSV Duisburg and Waldhof Mannheim have advertised third-division football at the start of Matchday 17. SV Waldhof had the better end in their favour, acting in a more composed manner in the second half and forcing the decision with a dream goal.
Duisburg coach Hagen Schmidt made two changes to his starting eleven compared to the 2:3 at 1860 Munich: Ajani and Kwadwo started for Bakalorz and Gembalies.
Mannheim coach Patrick Glöckner saw no reason for personnel changes after the spectacular 3:3 against VfL Osnabrück and sent exactly the same formation onto the field.
MSV completely missed the opening phase. Nothing went forward in the first 20 minutes, the defence looked disoriented. And Mannheim took advantage of the Zebras’ sleepiness: After only five minutes, Schnatterer appeared completely free in front of MSV keeper Weinkauf after a Martinovic pass and gave him no chance with all his experience. In the 19th minute, Costly was allowed to march across half the pitch completely unchallenged. Shortly before the penalty area, he took off just as unchallenged and his shot, which was deflected, hit the bottom left-hand corner.
Only after the 0:2 did Duisburg wake up
It was only after the 0:2 that Duisburg woke up – and how! First Stoppelkamp was unlucky with a great free-kick when his shot only touched the crossbar (24th), but in the 29th minute Bouhaddouz provided new hope: The centre-forward headed in a perfect cross from the industrious Ajani for the equaliser.
In the following period, a gripping fight developed, with both teams operating with open sights and fighting for every centimetre on the rain-soaked pitch. There were opportunities on both sides: For Duisburg, who showed a great reaction, Frey (39th) and Bouhaddouz (45.+3) missed the deserved equaliser. For Mannheim, who lurked on the counterattack, Costly missed a Schnatterer corner to improve the result (45.+2). And so it went into the dressing room with the narrow Waldhof lead.
Mannheim takes the game back – Martinovic scores a dream goal to decide the game
With Wagner replacing Höger, who had been injured shortly before the break, Mannheim took to the pitch again, Duisburg made no changes. As in the first half, Mannheim got off to the better start. After a bad mistake by Feltscher, Schnatterer had a free run, via Boyamba the ball came to Martinovic, who was completely free, but failed to score against Weinkauf and thus missed the possible 3:1 for Mannheim (53.).
The game continued with high intensity on both sides, but chances to score were not as frequent. The players had to pay tribute to the deep ground and the flow of the game was interrupted again and again by minor fouls. Mannheim now had a better grip on the Zebras’ attacking efforts and repeatedly launched dangerous counterattacks. In the 72nd minute, Martinovic missed the 3:1 for SVW with a volley.
But the Mannheim team had more to play for in the final quarter of an hour and made sure of the decision in the 81st minute. After Ajani had slipped past the ball, Boyamba marched forward on the left and then played the ball back to the edge of the penalty area, where Martinovic took the measure and scored with a direct shot into the left corner of the goal. MSV keeper Weinkauf was still on the ball but could not prevent the shot from going in.
Nothing more happened then. Waldhof deserved to win the match and keep up the pressure on the top. Duisburg showed an outstanding reaction after going behind early on, but were unable to turn the game around and remain stuck deep in the basement after the defeat.
Duisburg face SC Freiburg II on Sunday, Mannheim face 1860 Munich away in a make-up game on Tuesday.
