Small progress

Smit’s backheel. It was a brilliant move in the 37th minute, which Milan Smit conjured into the net with technically superb flair to equalise. William Mikelbrencis and Marco Richter combined down the right flank into the penalty area, Richter delivered a sharp cross into the box, where the Dutch striker backheeled the ball into the far corner. „He does that in training too, so it didn’t surprise me all that much,“ revealed Richter, the provider, with a grin, but then added: „For us, of course, it was fantastic that it worked out like that.“

Because the equaliser not only brought Darmstadt fully back into the game in terms of the scoreline. Just moments later, Mikelbrencis could even have given them the lead with a header, and in the following minutes until the halftime whistle, it was clear that Smit’s backheel had given the team from southern Hesse a real boost of energy. Furthermore, it stood for two things that can be taken away as positive aspects from this Saturday afternoon: the progress in playing with the ball at their feet, which SV 98 showed despite the again rather defensive approach, and the conviction that they could fight their way back into the game despite an early deficit and a difficult situation.

Stable after falling behind. „We didn’t let the deficit throw us off track,“ Florian Kohfeldt summarised after the game. Given Darmstadt’s position in the table and the early setback against the fifth-placed team, this was no small feat. While Darmstadt needed some time to get going and had to regroup after conceding, they remained defensively solid even during this period and found their rhythm offensively as the game progressed. A small turning point came in the 28th minute when Marcel Schuhen required treatment and the outfield players formed a huddle to discuss the situation: „We said that we needed everyone and that we had to do even more when we were behind,“ explained Raoul Petretta, who was asked about the incident. In the following 60 minutes or so until the final whistle, Darmstadt earned at least a point and, especially in the closing stages, had opportunities to take all three.

„We’ll get better going forward.“ This quote from Marco Richter fits perfectly into our category. SV 98 managed to create something from open play, not just with Smit’s goal. While not yet to the extent everyone would like, progress is clearly visible. After a nice combination, Richter hit the post in the 10th minute, and both the equaliser and Mikelbrencis‘ header (38th minute) resulted from well-executed attacking moves. After the break, the Lilies continued to regularly get into the penalty area, winning several corners, creating controversial situations in the box, and generating further shots on goal. „We’re starting to create scoring opportunities again,“ Kohfeldt aptly summarised, also emphasising the importance of posing a threat both from open play and set pieces.

The defence: In terms of defensive stability, the Lilies can look back on an impressive week. Against FC St. Pauli, SV 98 kept their first clean sheet of the season, and Marcel Schuhen maintained that record even in the surprise victory in Elversberg midweek. Against Magdeburg, the South Hessians conceded one goal, but with one exception, allowed the visitors no further significant chances. Of course, this style of play comes at the expense of their own attacking play, but currently this approach seems to be the best way to „increase the chances of winning games,“ as Kohfeldt summarised. Three unbeaten matches in eight days certainly support this.

The goal conceded. Like almost every goal conceded, the 1-0 deficit on this Saturday afternoon could have been prevented. In this case, however, it was quite simple. So far this season, Darmstadt had been highly focused in defending opposing corners, occupying precisely the spaces for which each individual player had been assigned. In the 14th minute against Magdeburg, there were slight deviations from this plan. And unfortunately, at this level, these nuances are often enough. Baris Atik recognised the space that had opened up and played the corner sharply into the box, where Darmstadt failed to clear the ball from danger. Tobias Müller gratefully accepted the gift and scored to give the visitors the lead. „We didn’t defend the corner well,“ summarised head coach Kohfeldt, who didn’t want to speculate on any individual errors. We will therefore leave it at this general description of what put Darmstadt on the back foot.

The first 25 to 30 minutes: While Darmstadt started the match quite well and had good opportunities to take the lead through Richter’s shot against the post and Noah Weißhaupt’s follow-up, overall, SV 98 appeared too „passive“ for a significant portion of the first half, as Kohfeldt later admitted. This impression arises more readily when playing in a deeper defensive block and without a high pressing line than with an aggressive approach and a high defensive line, but even with their current style of play, the team from southern Hesse had hoped for a bit more control than they experienced in the first 30 minutes. „We were too far apart,“ Petretta admitted, and Richter also recognised that he and his teammates needed „time to get going“ before they „passionately“ fought their way into the game.