Defeat in Fürth

In their away match against SpVgg Greuther Fürth, the hosts had their first dangerous attack after just three minutes, but Fabian Nürnberger was alert and prevented Klaus from getting a shot off. However, the best chance of the opening phase fell to the visitors from southern Hesse: Kai Klefisch played a long ball and Fraser Hornby attempted a lob, but his effort landed on the roof of the net after 11 minutes.

The game then proceeded without many scoring opportunities. While the hosts displayed some well-executed combinations, they failed to convert them into dangerous shots. As the game progressed, Darmstadt increasingly managed to push Fürth back into their own half, but initially without creating any clear-cut chances.

The visitors then proceeded to create a more sustained period of pressure. In the 35th minute, Darmstadt combined beautifully going forward. Klefisch fired a shot from the edge of the penalty area, and Fürth goalkeeper Prüfrock parried the ball forward, where Isac Lidberg, in true striker fashion, slotted it home to make it 1-0. However, the lead didn’t last long. Just six minutes later, Futkeu converted a penalty after Patric Pfeiffer was struck on the arm from close range.

Shortly before the halftime whistle, Hornby had another chance after a free kick, but the ball curled wide in added time, and the teams went into the break level.

Six minutes after the restart, the home side threatened on the counter-attack, but Marcel Schuhen was on hand to tip Hrgota’s deflected shot around the post for a corner. From that same set piece, the Darmstadt goalkeeper was called into action again, saving a header from Ziereis.

After Fürth’s strong start, Darmstadt gradually took control of the game, but still struggled to create regular scoring opportunities.

It wasn’t until the 77th minute that Darmstadt threatened again: Marco Richter lofted the ball into the path of Hornby, who was initially blocked from getting a shot away, but substitute Yosuke Furukawa pounced on the rebound and fired the ball into the net from close range to make it 2-1.

As in the first half, the lead for the South Hessians didn’t last long. Just eight minutes later, a ball fell to Futkeu, who initially failed to beat Schuhen with a superb save, but gave him no chance on the rebound, making it 2-2 with 5 minutes remaining.

The 98ers then pressed for the winning goal and twice came close: First, a deflected shot from Lidberg hit the crossbar in the 89th minute, then Prüfrock just managed to parry a cheeky effort from Marco Richter on 90 minutes. However, it was the home side who finally scored: In stoppage time, Futkeu found the net again in the 4th minute of added time, sealing the Lilies‘ away defeat.