Darmstadt 98 has continued its successful streak and still has its sights set on promotion to the Bundesliga. After the 1-0 win at Hansa Rostock, the team has now been unbeaten in 20 second division games.
Rostock (dpa/lhe) - Darmstadt 98 can continue to dream of promotion to the Bundesliga after the away win at Hansa Rostock. But the 1:0 (0:0) and thus the 20th unbeaten second division game in a row was a hard piece of work. "It was a complicated game in the first half, in which we only became dangerous at times. Otherwise we had to defend a lot and block a lot of shots," said Darmstadt coach Thorsten Lieberknecht on Saturday evening.
His team struggled in the first 45 minutes. In front of 25,000 spectators in the Ostseestadion, the hosts were initially the better team. Striker Mathias Honsak only showed himself to be dangerous in front of the Rostock goal in injury time, but was denied by the well-parried Hansa keeper Markus Kolke.
"We prepared the boys for a stormy game with a lot of duels. Nevertheless, my team was surprised," summarized Lieberknecht, who changed a few tactical things at half-time. That paid off later. In the 78th minute, Phillip Tietz converted a direct free kick from the edge of the penalty area and, with his eighth goal of the season, made the decision and the fourth win of the year.
"We were braver then, let the ball run properly and created chances. Because of the second half, I think the win is deserved," said goalkeeper Marcel Schuhen. Match winner Tietz was also happy with the team performance: "Overall, we are very proud of the three points. You saw once again that every player with us is passionate about his missions and does his job when he comes in," said the striker.
Darmstadt now has 48 points and will go into the top duel with pursuers Hamburger SV next Saturday (8.30 p.m. / Sky and Sport1) with confidence. Against the second in the table, the Lieberknecht team could take another big step towards the Bundesliga. "We will now analyze this game and especially the first half and then we look forward to HSV," said Tietz.
