The first win of the season after only one point and twelve defeats in a row, plus the first Bundesliga home win in the club’s history: relief set in on Sunday evening in Fürth, but also realism after the 1:0 against Union Berlin.
This time everything went in the cloverleaf’s favour: A goal by Havard Nielsen that was as controversial as it was “dirty”, with the referee ruling in favour of the promoted team. An opponent who did not make the most of his chances. And with Sascha Burchert, a goalkeeper who held on to the victory. “We had luck and skill on our side. You can also earn a victory and the necessary bit of luck,” said coach Stefan Leitl, who referred to his team’s almost 126 kilometres of running performance and paid them a big compliment after the 1:0 over Union Berlin. “In the past, we would have rather deserved to win the one or other home game that we clearly dominated but lost,” he added. Presumably he meant the 1-1 against Arminia Bielefeld or the 1-2 against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Against Union, everything fell into place. “There is no substitute for a win. We drew the game on our side with fight and passion,” said Leitl, who despite all the relief and joy did not lose sight of reality. “We have the 15th matchday and four points. That’s why I’m not falling into ecstasy, I can classify it well.” The gap to FC Augsburg in relegation place is twelve points, a presumably unassailable burden. Therefore, the victory on Sunday evening was above all one for morale and self-confidence. It was also a success because Leitl deviated somewhat from his usual footballing plan: “Our approach was clear: we didn’t want to be so open and didn’t want to attack so high. We did that relatively well. “
Blueprint for the coming weeks?
And maybe this game offers the blueprint for further successes in the near future: “The approach must be to come through defensive compactness and still not neglect the game. That is possible with self-confidence, and we have gained some of that,” said Leitl. His team will need self-confidence and skill as early as Wednesday evening, when the away game at Borussia Dortmund is on the agenda. Afterwards, there is a realistic chance of a second home win at the end of the year at home against FC Augsburg. Everything would just have to go right again.
