Undefeated streak ends

In the opening quarter of an hour of the match at Dynamo Dresden, both teams were evenly matched, with possession evenly distributed. Darmstadt created some promising early attacking opportunities, which the hosts were often only able to thwart with fouls. Darmstadt also registered the first dangerous shot of the game: after a cross from Raoul Petretta, Niklas Schmidt volleyed the ball first time, forcing Dresden goalkeeper Schreiber into a save with 20 minutes played.

Throughout the remainder of the match, possession remained balanced, but the dangerous shots came exclusively from the visitors. This was also the case in the 39th minute: Luca Marseiler broke through on the wing and his cross found Hiroki Akiyama, whose low shot, however, was too central and posed no problem for the keeper.

The turning point arrived in the 42nd minute, Patric Pfeiffer slipped on the edge of the penalty area and, in the ensuing scramble, caught his opponent. Referee Erbst deemed it a professional foul and showed the Darmstadt player a red card. It was a harsh decision, especially after Thomas Keller was only shown yellow after 7 minutes for bringing down Isac Lidberg in a very similar position.

In first-half stoppage time, the hosts exploited the space, and Vermeij put Dresden ahead with a brace in the first and second minutes of added time.

After the break, despite being a man down, Darmstadt tried to play their game, keeping possession and looking for gaps in the hosts‘ defence. However, eight minutes after the restart, the teams were back level: Lemmer received a second yellow card after two fouls within two minutes and was dismissed in the 53rd minute.

The team from southern Hesse enjoyed plenty of possession, but struggled to penetrate the deep-lying hosts‘ defence, resulting in few shots on goal during this period.

In the closing stages, Darmstadt went all out for the win, playing an all-out attacking game. However, the hosts exploited the resulting space and Daferner extended their lead to 3-0 in the 81st minute. Despite the significant deficit, Darmstadt refused to give up and pulled a goal back in the 90th minute: After a long-range effort from Niklas Schmidt, Yosuke Furukawa reacted quickest, threw himself at the ball, and hammered it home from close range. During the six minutes of added time, Darmstadt managed to create a few dangerous chances in the hosts‘ penalty area, but they were unable to add to their tally.