Dotchev approached the task at his former club with three changes in the starting XI compared to the recent draw against Viktoria Köln. Erik Majetschak, Kilian Jakob and Marvin Stefaniak replaced the ailing Linus Rosenlocher, Nico Gorzel and Maximilian Thiel in the team.
Duisburg dominates the initial phase
Intoxicated by the fantastic atmosphere in their own stadium, Duisburg dominated the game from the start and looked for goals early on. Cheers erupted after three minutes, but Joshua Bitter’s dry finish was rightly called off for being offside. Aue didn’t find his way into the game offensively and was repeatedly challenged by fast transition situations from Duisburg. Only after a quarter of an hour did the guests become more active. Paul-Philipp Besong narrowly missed a low cross from Jakob (16′). On the other side, Duisburg had the goal scream on the lips after 20 minutes, but keeper Martin Männel sensationally scratched a header from Marvin Senger off the line.
Three minutes later, however, Aue’s goalkeeper also had no chance: Bitter brought a cross from the right half-field into the box, where Benjamin Girth had escaped his guards, and then headed powerfully and precisely into the right corner (23′). As a result, only one team played. Duisburg let attack after attack roll and was always a step faster. At times Aue was barely able to free himself from his own half, but survived the urge phase. Shortly before half-time, Stefaniak was able to book two shots for the guests, but missed both with his head (38th) and from a distance (40th).
Coffin nails through two Duisburg dream goals
Shortly after the restart, Männel had to stretch again after Niklas Kölle broke through on the left and aimed for the short corner (47th). Duisburg pressed for the next goal and a few minutes later, thanks to Bitter’s artistic finish, came in front of the opponent’s goal again (51′). Although Aue played well, he still had no brilliant ideas. The hosts were completely different, with two dream goals within three minutes early eliminating all doubts about the home win. First, Kölle completed a cross from Alaa Bakir that went a little too far in the best Ibrahimovic manner with a side kick into the right corner (62′), before Kolja Pusch humorlessly chased the ball from 20 meters in the right-hand position into the left corner (65′).
Aue’s resistance was finally broken. Dotchev made a complete substitution again, but the hosts continued to have the better chances. Substitute Niclas Stierlin carelessly missed the next goal despite a promising position (78th). To make matters worse, Dotchev picked up his fourth yellow card on the sidelines for complaining and will miss the next game against Dortmund II. 83.).
That’s what the coaches said
Pavel Dotchev (Erzgebirge Aue) at MagentaSport: “We didn’t play well and didn’t do what we set out to do. Duisburg was brutally efficient and showed us how to play. We kept playing hoe, pike. That’s not the point. We wanted to today win. But the way we played it wasn’t possible. It was way too easy for Duisburg. They deserved to win.”
Torsten Ziegner (MSV Duisburg) MagentaSport: “There is hardly anything to complain about in the game. The team did an outstanding job overall. We were courageous on the offensive and tried something. It was also a victory that was well deserved. The team pulled itself together, we are going a common path . Something is growing together more and more. You can feel that in the environment.”