It may be a traditional duel in the third division, but it’s still a traditional duel. And so on Tuesday evening the Grünwalder Stadion for the game 1860 Munich against 1. FC Kaiserslautern was not only sold out (7500 spectators) and the guest block was well filled; Many faces could also be seen on the grandstand who do not come here regularly, such as the silver medalist from TSV 1860 Munich, the skier Linus Straßer, or the ice hockey player from EHC Munich. It was also an atmospheric evening – with a deserved and somewhat surprising winner, and on top of that with a surprising match winner, who scored the winning goal for the sixties shortly before the end.
At the final whistle, coach Michael Köllner raised his arms in relief. After the last home game, President Robert Reisinger asked publicly whether they had been in the same stadium when Köllner commented on a bad 2-0 loss to Halle. Now Koellner looked up the stands as if to make sure they were really in the same stadium again this time. “A turbulent game,” he summarized at Magentasport, “we finally rewarded ourselves again.”
Defense chief Stephan Salger made a fatal mistake in the second minute
As if he wanted to underline the outsider role, defender Stephan Salger made a fatal mistake in the second minute of the game. His cross pass to goalkeeper Marco Hiller landed in the legs of Lautern attacker Mike Wunderlich, who rounded the keeper and pushed in from close range. But the lions have always been at their best this season when they have already been written off – and this time too. The guests’ defense, which was so strong, was increasingly under pressure, even if the shots were mostly far too imprecise.
Stefan Lex missed the ball from a promising position when he smashed the ball (13′), Merveille Biankadi fell behind (19′) and he didn’t get the ball on target in the 26th minute either. In this case, however, it didn’t matter: Marcel Bär deflected the shot when Lautern’s keeper Matheo Raab was on his way to the other corner – the equaliser. Even if the sixties had a lot of ball possession and presented themselves at least at eye level, their often very high defense remained vulnerable. Once Muhammed Kiprit ran alone towards Hiller, but he remained calm and fended off the lob attempt (15th), then goalscorer Wunderlich saw the yellow card for a swallow.
“For him, of course, a highlight in his career,” says Köllner about Goden
However, there were no such dangerous counter-attacks in the second half, the Löwen spent most of the time with the ball in the opposing half. Marcel Bär missed just a few seconds after the restart with a long-range shot, a shot by Erik Tallig was blocked (56th), but it wasn’t really dangerous. Sixty played an exhausting game without creating many chances. Marcel Bär had run a lot, but got another free kick in the 84th minute with a courageous effort on the baseline. Tallig kicked him in the middle, who executed the set pieces for Richard Neudecker, who was suspended, the ball landed on Kevin Goden, who had just come on as a substitute – and he shot the ball into the near post (85′). “Shortly before that, the game had slipped a bit,” said Köllner about Goden’s substitution in the 75th minute, which is why he wanted to bring in fresh players. “For him, of course, a highlight in his career,” said the coach, who had often said how sorry he was for Goden because of his bad luck with infections during the season.
After that it became dangerous again, Hiller fended off a low shot from substitute Hikmet Ciftci (90th), and a little later there was finally time for the players to celebrate with the fans in the west stand. Should it look the same on Friday evening after the game – the lions in SC Verl are already receiving their next opponent – then expectations should rise enormously again. It would currently be too much to say that the sixties are suddenly a candidate for promotion again, but there is still the X-factor Türkgücü: If the city rivals are removed from the ranking in April, the lions, who have not won in two derbies, would be one of the biggest beneficiaries.
