Goalless away match: Elversberg win point in Ulm

SV Elversberg did not play a good away game and took all the points they could from a 0:0 draw. Nevertheless, Horst Steffen was ultimately satisfied with the result. 

Last Saturday, SV Elversberg faced a challenging task: Horst Steffen’s team were up against SSV Ulm 1846 Fußball in the Donaustadion. After an intense, hard-fought game, the teams were left with a goalless draw. This point was not the maximum haul that SVE could have achieved, but given the difficult conditions and a disciplined opponent, the draw was ultimately a fair result. ‘I am of course happy that we won a point, as I have to say that the match did not really allow for anything else’, was Horst Steffen’s summary afterwards. But let’s start from the beginning.

SV Elversberg headed into the match with two changes to their starting eleven: Lukas Petkov (suspended with a red card following two yellows) was replaced by Manuel Feil on the right wing, whilst Semih Sahin took Carlo Sickinger’s spot in the defensive midfield. Even before the game, Steffen warned against underestimating SSV Ulm based on their position in the table. Ulm have impressed with structured, compact play in the current season – which is exactly what posed a few challenges for Elversberg this afternoon. Both teams began the match with a clear strategy: Ulm offered a disciplined defence and forced repeated errors in Elversberg’s game. SVE were unable to develop their usual fluid combination play on this difficult pitch, making any real attacks scarce. 

The home team, on the other hand, gained most of their best opportunities from set pieces. Dangerous crosses continually sailed into the Elversberg penalty area, but the visiting team’s watchful defence stood firm. Goalkeeper Nicolas Kristof was as strong as always and saw off a few tricky situations. Nevertheless, Ulm were the more active team for the first 45 minutes, which did not go unnoticed by Horst Steffen. The coach responded with a half-time change: Sickinger came on for Feil, prompting a slight change to the formation. ‘In the early stages, there were situations where I would say that the plan was working until we got to passes that could have reached the six-yard box. That was mostly the end of the line, meaning that very good ideas did not result in goal opportunities. By contrast, we continually conceded opportunities that Ulm then failed to convert’, was Steffen’s analysis of the first 45 minutes.

The change of tactics initially had an impact in the second half: coming out of the locker room, Elversberg were more determined, more present in head-to-heads, and shifted play back into their opponent’s half. However, they still failed to penetrate through. As SVE attempted to ramp up the pressure, a set piece nearly left them a goal down: after a corner in the 60th minute, tall Ulm defender Tom Gaal landed the ball in the net, but the VAR intervened and disallowed the goal due to a slight offside – fortunate for the away team, keeping them in the game.

However, the disallowed goal gave Ulm fresh impetus and the match became more balanced. Things started to get properly exciting once again in the final stage. The hosts gained two major opportunities in extra time: both Max Brandt and Lennart Stoll had promising chances to score, but narrowly missed. ‘We had fewer clear attacks in the second half, and our play structure also suffered. We played a lot of long balls, which is not our core skill or strength. We did not find many ways to break through, which was partly down to the way Ulm attacked and defended so that we had almost no opportunities to score, apart from the gift just before the end. That didn’t happen often, which is also down to Ulm’s way of defending’, Steffen explained.

But then, SVE could have landed a lucky punch in the final action of the game. In the fourth minute of extra time, an initially harmless shot from Fisnik Asllani landed directly at the feet of Ulm’s goalkeeper Christian Ortag. However, Ortag was unable to control the ball properly and unintentionally sent it back to Asllani. The Elversberg striker reacted at lightning speed and fired another shot, but SSV defender Johannes Reichert deflected the ball at the last minute. The final whistle came a few seconds later – and the goalless draw was confirmed.

Steffen acknowledged Ulm’s performance and emphasised the importance of the point: ‘I thought that was it, it went in, now we are going 0:1 down. Yes, things always seem to be decided this way. It comes down to centimetres. And if Ulm had gone 1:0 up, I don’t know if we would have come back to take a point home. So we can be happy with our point, as I would say that the match did not really allow us to gain any more than that.’

So we can be happy with our point, as I would say that the match did not really allow us to gain any more than that

Horst Steffen

His counterpart, Ulm coach Thomas Wörle, was proud of his team’s performance despite missing out on the win: ‘I saw an incredibly strong-willed, courageous team who once again did a fair amount, including according to statistics, to narrowly beat out a strong Elversberg team and gain three points. Sadly, it was not enough.’ He was particularly impressed with his team’s defensive performance: ‘I would say that we defended very well for 90 minutes. We rarely allowed Elversberg’s strong attack to come into its own. That is a huge compliment to my team.’

We rarely allowed Elversberg’s strong attack to come into its own. That is a huge compliment to my team

Thomas Wörle

Ultimately, this was a game marked by fighting spirit and tactical discipline, where Elversberg managed to secure a valuable point despite the difficult conditions. The actual importance of this point will become clear as the season progresses. The team’s next chance to gain three points will be on Sunday, when Hertha BSC and their new coach Stefan Leitl come to Saarland. SVE will once again be doing their utmost to ensure a victory in front of a home crowd.