SVWW narrow defeat to Champions in season finale
Pros |
SV Wehen Wiesbaden picked up their second away victory of the season on Matchday 15 thanks to a combative performance against 1. FC Nuremberg. The Red & Blacks won 2-0 in front of 28,000 spectators at the Max Morlock Stadium thanks to goals from Manuel Schäffler and Daniel-Kofi Kyereh in the fourth and 48th minutes respectively.
SVWW head coach Rüdiger Rehm made two changes to the starting XI that lost to Holstein Kiel last Saturday. Paterson Chato replaced defender Jakov Medic, who is actually on loan from Nuremberg, while Marcel Titsch Rivero returned to central midfield in place of Jeremias Lorch.
As they have done so often this season, SVWW began brightly – and almost took the lead when Maximilian Dittgen tried his luck in the second minute. The former Nuremberg man’s effort went narrowly wide, but Manuel Schäffler opened the scoring three minutes later when he latched onto an excellent Sascha Mockenhaupt pass and slotted home his 11th goal of the season.
Having taken the lead, SVWW predominantly focused on staying solid defensively and counter-attacking at speed. Nuremberg had a significantly larger share of possession but failed to make much of it, with the principal threat for the Franconians coming through Enrico Valentini down the right flank. He put in a dangerous cross in the 18th minute but it was headed narrowly over the SVWW goal by Nikola Dovedan.
The Red & Blacks’ defensive solidity in the opening stages was borne out by the statistics: FCN did not have a single shot at goal in the first half-hour. The visitors' strategy was mostly not to press the opposition until they crossed the halfway line – but when they did, they often prevented the FCN defenders from building the play.
The best opportunity for Nuremberg – and the first shot at the SVWW goal all game – finally came in the 38th minute through Michael Frey. But fortunately for SVWW, his effort from close range following a long-distance strike by Sebastian Kerk went wide. The hosts began to up the pressure at this point, almost levelling when Kerk’s lob in the 43rd minute was brilliantly kept out by SVWW shot-stopper Heinz Lindner. Dams cleared the resultant corner-kick off the line to ensure SVWW went in at the break with their lead intact.
The Red & Blacks came racing out of the blocks in the second half and scored even more quickly than they had done in the opening 45 minutes. Captain Sebastian Mrowca set up Daniel-Kofi Kyereh, who lobbed the ball first-time over FCN custodian Felix Dornebusch from 30 metres to make it 2-0 in the 48th minute.
Nuremberg coped admirably with another early setback and tried to make their mark going forward. Frey went inches wide with a header in the 54th minute and Johannes Geis missed narrowly from 20 metres a minute later. Kerk pulled one back on the hour-mark but it was ruled out for offside.
In the 64th minute, referee Sascha Stegemann revoked his decision to award SVWW a penalty after consulting the video assistant referee. It was the correct call as Kyereh had handled the ball prior to the foul.
As they had done in the first half, Nuremberg had more of the ball and piled on the pressure. But passionate defending from SVWW, who threw themselves into every challenge, denied the Franconians any clear opportunities. Rehm’s charges did occasionally pose a threat on the counter but were lacking precision in the final third.
It was not until the 77th minute that the hosts carved out their first gilt-edged opportunity of the second half. Hack picked out Frey in the middle and he beat Lindner, only for Chato to scrape the ball off the line.
By now, Nuremberg were throwing everything forward and leaving sizeable gaps at the back for SVWW to exploit. In the 84th minute, the lively Kyereh and substitute Lorch played their way nicely through the FCN midfield but on this occasion the former's shot flew well over the crossbar.
In the final minutes of normal time, SVWW were saved by the woodwork when a header from Frey came crashing back off the bar. But Lindner would have had it covered anyway.
There was no further action of note in the five minutes of added time and SVWW held on to secure their second away win of the season.
SVWW: Lindner – Ajani (Guthörl, 83), Mockenhaupt, Dams, Chato, Niemeyer – Kyereh (Shipnoski, 88), Mrowca, Titsch Rivero (Lorch, 76), Dittgen – Schäffler