Late equaliser dampens mood – but 2025 still a huge success

SV Elversberg only managed to take limited advantage of their opponents’ mistakes in the race for promotion from the second division: manager Vincent Wagner’s team were held to 1:1 (1:0) against SC Preußen Münster for the final day of play in the first half of the season. Elversberg are therefore heading into the winter break in second place in the table with 34 points and have now gone five games in a row undefeated, but failed to extend their lead over their direct competitors. Darmstadt and Paderborn had already drawn 2:2 in their duel on Friday, keeping SVE just one point ahead of these next teams down.

Even before the starting whistle sounded, Elversberg had already definitively secured second place in the table for the winter break. The draw meant that SVE gained a point on table leaders Schalke, who lost their match against Eintracht Braunschweig. However, proceedings in Münster left things clear: Elversberg lacked attacking efficiency, but Münster had similar issues. 

The match, in front of 9,828 spectators at LVM-Preußenstadion, began with an extremely turbulent opening phase. Münster had three dangerous shots on goal during the first two and a half minutes, two of which resulted from rehearsed corner variations. Nicolas Kristof had to step in against Jorrit Hendrix just 64 seconds in, and shortly afterwards was aided by the outside of the post which deflected a shot from Luca Bolay. Pressure from the home team resulted in a penalty after VAR review, for a minimal foul on Luca Bolay by Lukas Pinckert. However, Oliver Batista Meier’s shot was halted by Kristof, who also saved three shots from the resulting corner.

‘The gloves were on fire a bit’, Kristof later said about the first few minutes. ‘It’s normal for there to be a few shots on goal, but as many as this with a penalty as well is unexpected. But we saw that Münster quite simply can play very good football.’ The goalkeeper had already chalked up five saves in the first quarter of an hour – including the penalty.

The gloves were on fire a bit

Nicolas Kristof

Elversberg survived this period and then gained a better foothold in the match for the remainder of the first half. Nevertheless, the first goal went against the progress of play. Younes Ebnoutalib was lightly fouled by Jannis Heuer and referee Felix Wagner awarded a penalty without need for the VAR. Ebnoutalib took it himself and confidently scored. This was his twelfth goal of the season and also put him at the top of the goalscorers’ list.

After the change of ends, Elversberg gained in stability. Münster continued to invest hard, but promising scoring positions were rare. The Saarland team were now gaining the better opportunities. Bambasé Conté had the chance to put the score at 2:0 several times, but was foiled by Johannes Schenk. Ebnoutalib also continued to pose a threat. ‘We had the opportunity to close the deal, especially in the second half’, Kristof noted. ‘But we were just unable to get to 2:0.’

Manager Vincent Wagner described the match as having different phases. He called the first ten minutes ‘suboptimal’ but said that his team then increasingly took control. He felt that in the second half, Elversberg were the better team and had the clearer opportunities from play. The fact that these remained unexploited was what kept the match open.

Shortly before the end, Elversberg had one more major opportunity: in the 87th minute, an unsuccessful pass by Schenk in his own penalty area landed at the feet of Ebnoutalib, but he was unable to control the ball. ‘Unfortunately, the ball got away from us once or twice’, Wagner said. The narrow lead remained intact – until stoppage time.

Münster were finally rewarded for their efforts. After a long throw-in, Paul Jaeckel passed the ball on to the far post, where substitute Etienne Amenyido was waiting to head it in at the 90th+4 minute. Kristof felt constricted here: ‘I felt like the striker was just blocking me and stopping me from getting to the ball’, he said. ‘If the only aim is to block the goalkeeper, then maybe you need to rethink things.’

Wagner admitted that conceding a late goal dampened the mood: ‘Yes, definitely’. A win would ‘perhaps have been a little lucky’ given the first half, but ultimately 1:1 ‘was a fair draw’. The manager praised his goalkeeper: ‘He’s a good keeper and as cool as a cucumber with the ball. I think he made five saves in the first fifteen minutes, including a penalty. That was a great performance – basically an A+.’

I think he made five saves in the first fifteen minutes, including a penalty. That was a great performance – basically an A+.

Vincent Wagner

Despite the irritation, Kristof also had positive things to say. ‘Given the first half, if you look at the course of play, we can’t complain about going home with 1:1.’ After major upheaval during the summer, he described their progress in the first half of the season as ‘very good’ and emphasised the club’s clear goal: ‘Of course, our aim first and foremost is to stay in the division. Anything else is a bonus.’ This brings SV Elversberg’s footballing year to an end with a draw that was reasonable in sporting terms – giving it even more weight in the table. Once again, SVE are heading into the winter break in a direct promotion spot at second place in the division with 34 points, a position almost no-one could have imagined just a few months ago. Although the late equaliser in Münster prevented an away win, it does not affect the fundamental shape of this first half of the season. Vincent Wagner’s summary was correspondingly positive, describing his team’s journey: the manager said that he was ‘very, very happy’ overall and added that he was particularly pleased about ‘how the boys perform, how we play football’. He noted that ‘being able to train these lads’ meant a lot to him. After a summer of upheaval, Elversberg are heading into the winter break in a position held by few other clubs – in the division’s top group and in a promotion spot.