Late Onyeka double: Elversberg win Duisburg Cup clash

SV Elversberg have won their first official match as a Bundesliga team, although this provided a taste of the challenges to come in the season ahead. Manager Vincent Wagner’s team defeated third-division side MSV Duisburg 3:1. Luca Schnellbacher put SVE in the lead, but the match threatened to change direction after an equaliser by Lex Tyger Lobinger. Substitute Francis Onyeka was able to clinch the Cup battle with two late goals.

The result sounds more definitive than the actual course of the afternoon proved to be in the Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena. On paper, SVE completed their task against an opponent two divisions below them – but on the pitch, this involved significantly more effort. Duisburg put up a disciplined defence, battled back after falling behind, and had two major opportunities to turn the match entirely on its head. The Bundesliga team’s individual quality only won the day in the latter minutes.

It was clear even before the starting whistle that Elversberg were expecting a difficult task. Although SVE‘s preparations had gone well overall with good results and only one defeat, MSV were already back up to competition speed. Duisburg had chalked up clear wins in their first two third-division matches and were heading into the Cup fixture at the top of their table. After five years without appearing in the event, this home game against a Bundesliga team also provided a long-desired stage for the longstanding club. 22,662 spectators came to watch, and although there were still some gaps, the sound levels became loud enough (especially after the equaliser) to provide an uncomfortable Cup match for the favourites.

Wagner had to plan for his first official appearance of the season without Lukas Pinckert, who was suspended. Seifert was missing due to syndesmotic ligament surgery, Tom Zimmerschied due to back problems. New signing Noel Futkeu joined the squad but started on the bench. Two new additions began on the pitch in the shape of Noah Darvich and Cole Campbell. Duisburg’s manager Dietmar also made four changes compared with their 4:2 win in Verl: Ens took over from Schlicke in the defensive ranks, whilst Noß, Casar and Sussek replaced Symalla, Bookjans and Safi in the midfield.

The teams quickly occupied their respective roles: Elversberg took the ball, Duisburg the spaces. The home team played a tight 5-4-1 formation and allowed SVE to dominate significant portions of the pitch, as long as they did not enter the danger zone. Elversberg’s dominance was reflected in their ball possession, which stood at over 70 percent, but was not translated into attacking quality. They initially lacked pace and precision near Duisburg’s penalty box.

Campbell made the first attacking move eight minutes in, leading a charge that ended in a header that failed to pose a threat after a Lasse Günther cross. After 18 minutes, SVE managed their first extended period in their opponent’s half. Numerous attempts were blocked, including a header by Florian Le Joncour after a corner. Lukas Petkov’s shot some thirty minutes in flew just wide of the right post.

This first half required patience from the Elversberg side. Duisburg did not just randomly eject the ball from the danger zone, but rather chose their shots carefully, tried to push forward in a controlled manner after gaining the ball, and stopped Elversberg’s greater ball possession from becoming constant pressure. SVE were the superior team but did not dominate proceedings. The fact that they still managed to take the lead in the 38th minute fits the picture of a match where an unclear situation had more of an impact than all of the previous, carefully planned attacks.

Felix Keidel tried a shot from the edge of the penalty area, but a Duisburg defender managed to get a foot in at the last moment. However, MSV were unable to clear the ball away. It reached Schnellbacher, who was stood undefended near the penalty spot and smoothly fired it into the corner of the goal with his right foot. The experienced striker’s composure allowed SVE to reap rewards, earned from lots of ball possession but only a handful of clear opportunities.

Shortly before half-time, Campbell had a big opportunity to make for a much more comfortable match. After an error by Duisburg’s defence, the attacking player was left undefended in front of goalkeeper Maximilian Braune, but his shot from around eleven metres out went well wide. Rather than a 2:0 lead, Elversberg headed into the locker rooms just narrowly ahead. This was not yet any cause for worry. MSV remained largely harmless in attacking terms during the first half, whilst SVE controlled proceedings and allowed little through their defences. However, Campbell’s missed opportunity became much more significant after the change of ends.

Elversberg initially came out fighting in the second half. Petkov overcame multiple Duisburg players on the right flank in the 52nd minute and reached Keidel, whose shot was deflected at the last minute to set up a corner. Two minutes later, one unsuccessful moment was all it took to completely knock SVE off track. A harmless throw-in by Günther in MSV’s half found its way to Lobinger. The Duisburg centre-forward immediately picked up the pace, brought the ball halfway up the pitch, beat Maximilian Rohr en route to the penalty box, and caught Nicolas Kristof off guard with a powerful shot into the near corner.

This equaliser was more than just a goal – it changed the atmosphere and the balance of power. Duisburg, who had previously been focusing on their own system of play, became increasingly confident. Although Elversberg retained greater ball possession, they produced more inaccuracies and no longer had the same natural structure as in the first half. Head-to-heads became more intense, the spectators became more vocal, and what was a controlled contest turned into exactly the kind of open Cup clash that SVE had been keen to avoid.

Lobinger stood as a symbol of Duisburg’s upturn. Rather than waiting for mistakes to be made near the goal, he turned winning the ball in his own half into an equaliser thanks to pace, power and determination. Hirsch accordingly praised his striker’s work: ‘Tyger’s play had that throughout the entire match. That energy, power and courage. The way he scored that goal was unbelievably good. That’s why he’s our top striker.’

Wagner responded after 69 minutes, bringing Francis Onyeka on to replace Darvich and David Mokwa for Schnellbacher. The aim was for these two fresh strikers to offer Elversberg new dynamism, but the first opportunities went to the other team. Rather than just needling their opponents, Duisburg came very close to pulling ahead twice in a handful of minutes.

In the 78th minute, Can Coskun headed neatly up the left flank to the Elversberg goal. Substitute Jan-Simon Symalla was able to fire a header from around six metres away, but it sailed past the left post. Just two minutes later, Ramien Safi also broke through after a rapid attack. The Duisburg player, also a substitute, broke free on the left and reached Kristof, but failed to get his shot past the goalkeeper. Kristof stood his ground, planted his feet and held the score at 1:1 with a save that was as least as important for the course of the match as the subsequent goals.

‘If we had taken the lead at that point, the stadium would have gone nuts’, Hirsch said after the match. That is no exaggeration. At this point, MSV had shaken the favourites; the backdrop had long since become part of the match and Elversberg were struggling to create clear attacking opportunities. The match stood on a knife edge – the kind so often seen in the DFB Cup where it is often not the higher-ranked club that takes control, but rather the bolder underdog. However, Symalla and Safi both went unrewarded – and allowed SVE to turn things in their favour once again.

Wagner’s substitutions needed some time to take effect but are ultimately what clinched the match. Petkov worked his way forwards up the right flank in the 88th minute. Duisburg’s Martin Ens initially stopped the Elversberg player from scoring, but his attempted save failed to clear the ball away from the danger zone. It reached Onyeka, who did not hesitate to fire it into the right corner from close by. After more than half an hour where Duisburg seemed closer to winning at points, Elversberg were suddenly back in the lead.

MSV had to open up their play and start pushing forwards once again. This created the space that SVE had been lacking thus far. Elversberg launched a counter-attack in the first minute of stoppage time; Onyeka got the ball once again and remained calm up against Braune. The 19-year-old scored to put things at 3:1, clearing away any doubts about their win in just a few seconds. Thanks to these two goals, a match that had been open during its final stages became a scoreline that looks almost definitive at first sight.

It only took Onyeka around 20 minutes to make a clear mark in his first official match of the season. The player, on loan from Bayer Leverkusen, is captain of the German national U19 team and has already scored 14 goals in 14 appearances. In Duisburg, he demonstrated why he inspires such high expectations, even in the significantly more challenging world of club football. For his first goal, he reacted more quickly than the entire defensive lineup, whilst the second saw him remain calm at the crucial moment. Elversberg had more ball possession for long periods, but it was their positionless player who made this advantage really matter. Duisburg were left feeling that the end result does not suitably reflect their actual performance. ‘If you look at the opportunities we had during the match, the result doesn’t reflect my team’s performance’, was Hirsch’s summary. The manager viewed his team as being ‘at least as good’ and could not see the two-division difference. This assessment had a reasonable basis, especially at 1:1. As well as putting up a passionate defence, MSV also played with increasing flair and forced the Bundesliga side to make mistakes.

Hirsch was unambiguous about his mixture of pride and disappointment: ‘The result is rubbish and frustrating, but our performance was brilliant. We had lots of good ball possession, we were well organised and we worked very hard on our defence.’ However, he did have one criticism to offer: ‘The only thing I can criticise my team for is the fact that we played too many long balls towards the end.’ Overall, however, he was convinced that the third-division side could be proud of their performance. ‘We can take a lot away from this match and we want to qualify for this fantastic competition again.’

For Elversberg, the analysis reflected both sides of the coin. The team largely controlled the first 50 minutes but were knocked off their stride by Lobinger’s equaliser. During Duisburg’s strongest period, they lacked the control to keep their opponents away from their goal. At the same time, SVE demonstrated that they possess the quality levels that make all the difference in tight matches: Kristof kept them from falling behind, Wagner was able to bring on effective attackers from the bench, and Onyeka exploited his opportunities without any warm-up time. Given this, the team’s progress to the next round was fortunate, but not a fluke.

After the final whistle, attentions turned not only to the result but also to the pitch itself. The turf in the Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena had been completely replaced just two weeks before. Nevertheless, Wagner was particularly bothered by the length of the grass. For a team that likes to run quickly with the ball and open up space with rapid combination play, the conditions represented an additional hurdle. ‘That was very counterproductive’, the Elversberg manager said. He also called on the DFB to meet its obligations: in his view, the requirement for grass to be three centimetres in length needed to be formulated more clearly.

Duisburg wanted to avoid giving the impression that they had specifically tailored the pitch to a technically superior opponent. ‘To begin with, there might have been a few rumours that we did it on purpose’, Hirsch said. He categorically denied this allegation. MSV were also less than happy with the situation: ‘We also would have preferred different turf. I’m also very unhappy with its quality, or rather its length, because we wanted to play football too. But it has nothing to do with the fact that we were playing against a Bundesliga side.’

According to Hirsch, the problem originated before the Cup match. The turf was already ‘not good’ in their league match against Meppen. Whilst Elversberg’s green keeper works with the coaching team to coordinate mowing and watering, Hirsch does not have the same influence at MSV. The pitch does not explain the match’s overall dynamic, but it did impede SVE’s attacks and it suited Duisburg’s compact defending. The fact that both managers were unhappy with its quality also dispelled any suspicion that it was deliberately done to create an advantage.

For Elversberg, the most important part this inconsistent afternoon was the result. The team have made it through to the second round of the DFB Cup and won their first official match as a Bundesliga team. The draw will be held on Saturday 5 September at 5:45 p.m. Just a week after the Cup match, their next task awaits: on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., SVE face Bayer Leverkusen for the first Bundesliga match in the club’s history. This means that Elversberg are leaving Duisburg with more than just a ticket to the next round. They have discovered how quickly a seemingly controllable match can be turned on its head by a single error. They have experienced how high levels of ball possession are only of limited use against an opponent who defends fiercely and deep, especially if pace and precision are lacking. And they have seen that the squad has players who can turn a deadlocked match around late on. For a team that are now preparing for the upper echelons of German football, this Cup clash was not a glittering start. However, it was a test – and Elversberg passed.