Successful test against Saarbrücken

Both teams showed commitment from the outset, employing high pressing and looking to attack. The first scoring opportunity fell to the visitors: Niklas Schmidt fired a shot from a difficult angle, but his effort posed no real problems for FCS goalkeeper Paterok (10′). Shortly afterward, Darmstadt took the lead: A cross from Sergio Lopez found Isac Lidberg in the penalty area, and the Swede finished to make it 1-0 (13′).

Saarbrücken, however, were not intimidated by the goal and continued to press high. Nevertheless, it was Darmstadt who initially created the more clear-cut chances. Yosuke Furukawa (20′) and Klefisch (26′) both missed opportunities to extend the lead.

And so it was the Saarlanders who scored the next goal of the match. Brünker broke free from a pressing situation and, under pressure, played the ball to Elongo Yombo, who took it in stride and fired a powerful shot from the left edge of the penalty area into the near corner to equalise at 1-1 (30′). Shortly before the halftime whistle, Darmstadt were awarded another corner. Richter whipped in a dangerous cross, and Maglica headed it home to give Darmstadt a 2-1 lead at the break.

The second half began with a shot from Elongo Yombo, but he put the ball over Brunst’s goal (47′). Darmstadt remained dominant, however. Bormuth failed to control the ball in the six-yard box, and substitute Lakenmacher reacted quickly, earning a well-deserved penalty. Richter stepped up and made it 3-1 (49′). A very fine combination by Darmstadt led to another goal just before the hour mark. On the right side of midfield, Richter played a one-two with Furukawa, then found the onrushing Matthias Bader, who crossed the ball towards the six-yard box, where Furukawa finished superbly with a backheel into the far corner (57′).

The game subsequently became somewhat less exciting, with only substitute Grayson Dettoni, making his debut for Darmstadt, narrowly missing another goal following a corner. The final goal of the match belonged to the visitors: Civeja found Multhaup in the penalty area, who finished unchallenged to make it 2-4 from Saarbrücken’s perspective. This also proved to be the final score in what was ultimately a successful test match for Darmstadt.

Florian Kohfeldt: „I saw a few players perform really well. The focus was on maintaining our rhythm and giving some players playing time. For me, apart from Semih’s injury, it was an entirely positive test. Three out of four goals were very well-worked. Basically, everything we planned worked out. Now we’ll recover tomorrow, and then the lads will get three days off.“