The 3.Liga is becoming quite exciting, with several clubs jostling for position at the top. The big-match in Münster against Offenbach wasn’t up to quality standards, but was hard fought and exciting. Leaders Münster perhaps had the edge, but a somewhat dubious call gifted Offenbach a penalty at the end. Perhaps the Kickers deserved the point and remain within striking distance. For Münster, another two goals by American Matt Taylor, who has bounced around with several clubs in Germany, but has found a home.
Osnabrück put in a solid performance at contenders Heidenheim. The northerners controlled most of the game and jumped out early. Heidenheim has been a bit unpredictable this season. They tried hard to get back into the match, but VfL just teased with them before slamming the door.
Bielefeld got an important away win against Wehen, who are almost impossible to beat. A strong performance by a well organized Arminia squad. Wehen fell behind early, and desperately tried everything to get back to their normal draw state, but just couldn’t pull it off.
Rostock had a hard fought win against Aachen to maintain their improving status. Actually, it was pretty lucky, as although they had a man advantage for 80 minutes, it was guest Alemannia who created the best chances for goal. Hansa should be thrilled to get all the points, a disappointing result for struggling Alemannia.
It was hard to tell who was who in Unterhaching, as deep-ender Erfurt played high quality football and pressed the home side all the way. The Hachingers took the lead, but they just couldn’t hold RWE’s head under water long enough. A fair result.
A critical relegation match ended in disaster for Darmstadt. Facing last place Dortmund II, the 98ers needed the win, and started all out at the beginning. They pressed and were rewarded with an early penalty. Now in the lead, they dominated against clueless BVB and basically through incompetance failed to get the decisive blow. Dortmund II perhaps realized a loss would essentially finish their season, and regrouped at halftime, coming out with purpose. They equalized and then showed discipline in warding off increasingly desperate Darmstadt attacks. The 98ers wasted chances, and then were justifiably punished: almost at the whistle Benatelli hammered in a blast from around 20 meters to give Dortmund II a lifeline and send Darmstadt into despair.
Snoozer in Potsdam as Babelsberg and KSC showed why they’re crap…
SV Babelsberg 03 - Karlsruher SC 0:0 (0:0) 3,000 SpVgg Unterhaching - Rot-Weiß Erfurt 2:2 (2:1) 2,500 Stuttgarter Kickers - Wacker Burghausen 1:2 (0:1) 3,575 Hallescher FC - VfB Stuttgart II 1:4 (1:1) 7,002 1. FC Heidenheim - VfL Osnabrück 1:3 (0:1) 8,500 SV Wehen Wiesbaden - Arminia Bielefeld 0:1 (0:1) 2,963 Hansa Rostock - Alemannia Aachen 1:0 (1:0) 10,000 SV Darmstadt 98 - Borussia Dortmund II 1:2 (1:0) 4,500 Preußen Münster - Kickers Offenbach 2:2 (2:1) 8,166 Sunday: Chemnitzer FC - 1. FC Saarbrücken 4:1 (2:0) 5,300 Total attendance: 55,506 (avg 5,551) 1 Preußen Münster 14 8 5 1 25:10 +15 29 2 VfL Osnabrück 14 9 2 3 21:10 +11 29 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Arminia Bielefeld 14 8 3 3 21:14 +7 27 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 SpVgg Unterhaching 14 8 3 3 26:20 +6 27 5 Wacker Burghausen 14 8 1 5 21:15 +6 25 6 1. FC Heidenheim 14 7 3 4 26:22 +4 24 7 Hansa Rostock (A) 14 7 3 4 18:18 +0 24 8 Kickers Offenbach 14 6 4 4 26:18 +8 22 9 Chemnitzer FC 14 6 3 5 19:16 +3 21 10 VfB Stuttgart II 14 5 3 6 17:17 0 18 11 1. FC Saarbrücken 14 5 2 7 17:23 -6 17 12 Karlsruher SC (A) 13 3 7 3 14:9 +5 16 13 Stuttgarter Kickers (N) 13 4 3 6 18:15 +3 15 14 Alemannia Aachen (A) 14 3 5 6 15:21 -6 14 15 Hallescher FC (N) 14 3 5 6 11:18 -7 14 16 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 14 1 10 3 15:17 -2 13 17 SV Babelsberg 03 14 3 3 8 11:21 -10 12 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 SV Darmstadt 98 14 2 5 7 13:21 -8 11 19 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 14 2 4 8 13:27 -14 10 20 Borussia Dortmund II (N) 14 2 4 8 12:27 -15 10 1st line: Promotion to 2.Liga 2nd line: Promotion Playoff with 2.Liga 16th place 3rd line: Relegation to Regionalliga
I had a feeling that this would happen. Just when there’s an opportunity for the Lillien to grab some ‘easy’ points at Boellenfaltor, they let slip. They did this against Wehen last season as well. But then they go and win against a top flight team when not expected. Aegerlich….