SVE turn things around: well-earned 2:1 win against Nürnberg

Last Friday, SV Elversberg put in a strong performance against 1. FC Nürnberg to fight back from 0:1 down and ultimately gain a well-earned 2:1 victory. This keeps SVE in the top group. 

In front of 9,322 spectators in the virtually sold-out URSAPHARM Arena on Kaiserlinde, Tom Zimmerschied and Muhammed Damar scored for SVE to achieve a win that reduces the gap behind table leaders Paderborn to just two points and put the team at second place in the table, at least temporarily. 

Neither coach made any changes to their starting formations. Pleasingly, for Elversberg, Frederik Jäkel was back on the squad for the first time after his severe knee injury. As well as Robin Fellhauer and Semih Sahin, who are out with long-term injuries, Horst Steffen also had to manage without Luca Schnellbacher (who was ill). Carlo Sickinger, whose appearance was recently in question, was able to play and formed a ‘double-six’ with Frederik Schmahl.

Both teams launched their attacks right from the start. The first opportunity went to SVE, when Lukas Pinckert headed the ball into the inside of the post after a corner from Damar. Their opponents responded just a minute later – and in top form: after a delicate blind pass, Mahir Emreli emerged undefended in front of Nicolas Kristof, but his attempted lob was foiled by the fantastic reactions of the Elversberg keeper. Things continued back and forth without pausing for breath. Nürnberg then took the lead in the 14th minute, thanks largely to Stefanos Tzimas. The striker thundered down the left, leaving the defence in his wake, before Jens Castrop came rushing in to land the ball in the net beyond Kristof’s reach. However, SVE were undeterred and soon had an opportunity to equalise. Fisnik Asllani gained the ball in the penalty area and skilfully spun to fire it at a tight angle, narrowly missing. Few major changes followed, although Elversberg gained increasing possession of the ball. Until just before half time: Muhammed Damar was keeping a close eye on things from the left flank, and put Tom Zimmerschied in play with a delicate pass. SVE’s left winger appeared left midfield in front of the Nürnberg goal and fired the ball low through the legs of the opposing team’s goalkeeper Jan Reichert to equalise 1:1 (44th minute). And that is where the scoreline stayed until half time. 

At the beginning of the second half, Horst Steffen’s team picked up where they had left off, keeping the Franconian away team under constant pressure with bold, energetic play. After Carlo Sickinger narrowly missed a long-distance shot from 16 metres away, Muhammed Damar squared things up in the 52nd minute. Direct combination play by Baum, Schmahl and Asllani allowed SVE’s midfielder to land the ball in the right corner from 18 metres away with a well-placed low shot, securing a 2:1 lead to many cheers. ‘The equaliser was definitely a boost’, Steffen said, delighted that in the second half, his boys still had the ‘courage to continue running, attacking and soon went one better.’ Muhammed Damar rounded out this period of pressure at the start of the second half with what was his fifth goal of the season. ‘I am delighted to have scored the goal’, Damar said into the Sportschau microphone after the game. ‘We consistently believe in ourselves – and that is what matters the most.’

We consistently believe in ourselves – and that is what matters the most.

Muhammed Damar

SVE then began their strongest section of the match and tried to pull definitively ahead, but numerous fantastic finishes were repeatedly cleared away by Nürnberg’s defence at the final moment. However, the away team did not give up the fight, meaning that SVE still had a few hairy situations to overcome. Asllani failing to score with a header in the 83rd minute meant that things remained exciting right up to the final whistle. Nevertheless, huge heart and a passionate fighting spirit enabled Horst Steffen’s team to hang onto their narrow lead and ultimately celebrate a well-earned win. ‘It was a lively floodlit game with intense play right from the start. We threw ourselves into everything and had a lot of good attacks. We managed to keep it to 2:1, which I am very happy about, as that was no easy task against an opponent with great players.’ FCN’s coach Miroslav Klose was not just unhappy about the result after the game: ‘Before the match, I said that we needed to stay alert and hungry throughout today if we wanted to score any points. We only managed it for fifteen minutes – after that, we failed to keep pace in front of the goal and in head-to-heads. We need to discuss that this week and then do better against Köln.’ His captain Robin Knoche put things more clearly: ‘Today was our worst game in recent weeks, especially in the first half. If you only end up playing around 15 or 20 minutes of football, that is quite simply not enough to take any points home, let alone three.’ 

Horst Steffen naturally had a different perspective – although he was also not entirely satisfied.  He viewed his team’s performance overall as ‘brilliant’, but he particularly praised their commitment when Nürnberg were seeking to claw their way back from behind. ‘We threw ourselves into everything, our running was great’, the 55 year old said in praise of his team. Overall, Elversberg ran 116.98 kilometres, nearly three more than their Franconian counterparts (114.20), and showcased more promising moves in the final third.

Steffen criticised this as somewhat ‘lacking clarity’. ‘But since we ultimately won the game, I can overlook it.’ Steffen’s summary after their fifth home win and at least a temporary bump to second place in the table was therefore very positive: ‘It was a successful evening for all of us. We can keep it up.’ At the end of the day of play, the team were sitting at fourth place in the table. Next week SVE are heading to Braunschweig. The aim: to keep it up.