Sharing of points in Magdeburg

The match started without any initial probing. Darmstadt registered their first noteworthy attack after just six minutes: Niklas Schmidt delivered a precise pass to Marco Richter, who cut inside from the wing. However, his shot lacked precision and posed no serious problems for goalkeeper Reimann.

The hosts‘ response was swift. Two minutes later, Michel tested Marcel Schuhen with a long-range effort, which the Darmstadt keeper tipped around the post with his fingertips.

After the turbulent opening phase, the game settled down considerably. Both teams were clearly focused on controlling possession and avoided taking unnecessary risks in their build-up play. The defensive lines remained compact, resulting in a dearth of clear-cut scoring opportunities for much of the match.

Magdeburg upped the tempo just before the halftime whistle. After a swift counter-attack, the home side appeared dangerously close to goal, but Schuhen prevented them from falling behind with a superb reflex save in the 36th minute.

So the teams went into the break with the score still 0-0.

Immediately after the restart, the game picked up considerably. Darmstadt came close to taking the lead after a corner, when the Magdeburg defence almost put the ball into their own net after 50 minutes. In the immediate counter-attack, Marcel Schuhen was once again on hand to tip a shot from Nollenberger over the crossbar.

The hosts continued to apply pressure and were rewarded in the 63rd minute with a bizarre goal: A flicked-on cross struck Fabian Nürnberger’s chest and bounced into his own net, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance.

Darmstadt, however, were far from shaken. Just two minutes later, Nürnberger had a chance to make amends, but his shot was saved by the Magdeburg goalkeeper. In the 67th minute, he finally made amends: Merveille Papela played the ball to Nürnberger on the edge of the penalty area. His shot took a crucial deflection and nestled into the net for the 1-1 equaliser.

After the equalier, Darmstadt managed to keep the home side away from their goal more effectively. In attack, Darmstadt found more space in the danger zone, but failed to create any clear-cut chances, and the match ended in a 1-1 draw.