SVE make history – top of the table for the first time
For the first time ever, SV Elversberg have reached the top of the 2. Bundesliga table: Horst Steffen and his team made history with a 3:0 away win over Eintracht Braunschweig.
SV Elversberg have achieved something historic: for the first time ever in the club’s history, they have made it to the top of the 2. Bundesliga table. An impressive 3:0 away win against Eintracht Braunschweig last Sunday secured the top position for the Saarland team. This success was met with delight and loud chants of ‘number one, number one’ by the fans who travelled to watch the game, as well as creating a euphoric mood throughout the entire club.
‘It is almost unbelievable’, Horst Steffen delightedly said after the match. This 55-year-old football coach has played a huge role in SV Elversberg‘s success story. Since he took on the team in October 2018, when they were still in the Regionalliga Südwest, he has led the team from the fourth division through to the second with two championships in a row. Now, in what was the 50th second-division game in the club’s history, he and his team have made their way to the top of the league. ‘It is a fantastic feeling’, Steffen said, but remained as down-to-earth as always: ‘We know how tight the league is. It feels as if the leading team changes every few minutes. We will enjoy the moment, but we are already focusing on our next match.’ This focus seems to be key, as SVE have impressed with not only their enthusiasm for the game, but also their consistency.
We know how tight the league is. It feels as if the leading team changes every few minutes. We will enjoy the moment, but we are already focusing on our next match.
Horst Steffen
Consistency is the watchword: once again, the kingpin of this latest success was Fisnik Asllani. The 22-year-old Kosovan, who only transferred to Elversberg from Austria Wien in the summer, gained two goals against their opponent to put his season tally at ten. This was combined with five assists, meaning that he is currently topping the league’s scorer list alongside Marvin Wanitzek of Karlsruher SC. ‘At the beginning of the season, I could not have dreamed that it would go so well’, the striker grinned after the match. His second goal was a real highlight: after a perfect pass from Muhammed Damar, he left both defender Jannis Nikolaou and Braunschweig’s goalkeeper Marko Johansson in his wake before confidently firing the ball home to put the score at 2:0. ‘These are unforgettable moments’, Asllani enthused, adding: ‘Elversberg is a small club compared with others in the league. But now we are number one. It shows what you can achieve with hard work and team spirit.’ Despite all this delight, Asllani still understands the challenges they face: ‘The top group is brutally tight. We need to keep giving one hundred percent and just have fun.’
Elversberg is a small club compared with others in the league. But now we are number one. It shows what you can achieve with hard work and team spirit.
Fisnik Asllani
During the first half of the match in Braunschweig, it did not look like it would be a clear win for the Saarland team. In front of 18,803 spectators at the Eintracht-Stadion on Hamburger Straße, the home team initially had better opportunities. Despite the defeat, Eintracht’s coach Daniel Scherning sounded very satisfied with his team’s performance: ‘We played a decent game for 60 minutes, but did not put up the fight that we needed to at the end.’
SVE, on the other hand, improved significantly after a weak first half and emerged from the locker room in bolder form. This boldness paid off: in the 65th minute, Asllani drove a deflected shot over the line to make it 1:0. From then onwards, Elversberg played a free game that was rewarded with two more goals. Maurice Neubauer added the crowning glory in injury time to put the scoreline at 3:0.
This success against Braunschweig showcased the team’s strengths: a blend of individual tour de force and team unity. Players like Muhammed Damar, who came on from the bench to set up the second goal with a precise pass despite a bruised foot, or Maurice Neubauer, whose goal in injury time was the cherry on the cake, show that this is a shared success. ‘Being part of this team is just fun’, said Damar, who also sounded satisfied after the match. ‘We work hard for each other and believe in our strengths.’
We work hard for each other and believe in our strengths.
Muhammed Damar
Despite their joy at reaching the top of the table, SV Elversberg are already looking to the future. They still have one home game in the URSAPHARM Arena remaining before the winter break, against none other than relegated Bundesliga team and long-standing club Schalke 04. A win could put Elversberg in first place for the winter. ‘I would be happy with that’, Asllani joked, revealing their recipe for success: ‘We will keep doing what we do, working and enjoying the time.’ And that is what has made SVE so special this season: the balance between a down-to-earth attitude and euphoria, hard work and pure delight in the game.
This blend has enabled SV Elversberg to win its fans’ hearts, as well as show that footballing history can be made in Saarland. And who knows – perhaps reaching the top of the table will only be the start of a new chapter in this exceptional success story.