The 1st FC Heidenheim has not been able to catch up with the leader SV Darmstadt 2 in the 98nd football league. Coach Frank Schmidt's team still have good prospects of promotion to the Bundesliga for the first time after Sunday's 0-0 draw against FC Magdeburg.
With three matchdays to go, FCH's lead over third-placed Hamburger SV is four points, and a non-promotion spot is already eight points away. Darmstadt lost 0-3 to FC St. Pauli on Saturday evening and are three points ahead of Heidenheim.
In front of 15,000 spectators in the sold-out Voith Arena, the Heidenheim team had a hard time against Magdeburg, especially in the first half. After the change of sides, the FCH then worked out a preponderance. However, substitutes Kevin Sessa (52nd minute) and Dzenis Burnic (60th) both failed to score against the aluminium and even in the final phase the Heidenheimers were not rewarded for their improvement in performance after the break.
Club squandered victory
In the relegation battle, 1. FC Nürnberg has carelessly squandered the urgently needed liberation. The club did not get beyond a 1-3 (3-2) draw against 1. FC Kaiserslautern, but now has a four-point lead over the relegation place with three matchdays to go.
Coach Dieter Hecking's team gave up a two-goal lead in a turbulent final phase. Julian Niehues (88') and Philipp Klement (90'+5) scored for FCK.
Mats Möller Daehli (4th) had given the nine-time champions an early lead in front of 40,525 spectators. Jens Castrop (35') added a header after a corner kick from Möller Daehli. It was FCN's first goal of the season after the 163rd corner. FCK goalkeeper Julian Krahl was powerless twice in his second division debut.
Terrence Boyd opened the scoring in the 40th minute. The Lauterer had to wait a long 580 minutes for this away goal. The club quickly added to their tally through Kwadwo Duah (50'). The striker scored his eleventh goal of the season with his heel.
Three goals in the closing stages
Meanwhile, Eintracht Braunschweig has taken a big step towards staying in the league. After a turbulent final phase, the newly promoted team defeated bottom-of-the-table SV Sandhausen 2-1 (0-0) and now go into the last three matchdays with a seven-point lead over the two direct relegation places.
It was not until the 82nd minute that Saulo Decarli gave Eintracht the lead after a corner kick. And just 72 seconds after Aleksandr Zhirov's equaliser (88'), Anton Donkor (90') scored the acclaimed winning goal.
In front of 20,000 spectators, Sandhausen could have left the direct relegation places for the first time since the beginning of February. However, the visitors missed several big opportunities, especially in the first half.
Already in the ninth minute, Kemal Ademi came a few meters from the Braunschweig goal completely free to shoot and put the ball next to the goal. In the 24th, 43rd and 44th minutes, the striker from Switzerland missed further great chances.
The Braunschweigers were overly nervous and flawed after their two defeats against Magdeburg and Paderborn. But after seven points from the first three games under new coach Gerhard Kleppinger, SVS could not take advantage of that this time.