Alexander Bieler and Andrew Wooten's goals helped Sandhausen to overcome 10 man Nürnberg on Friday night, who had initially led through Niclas Füllkrug's stike.
The hosts, winless since September, are one of five sides sitting on twelve points, previously close to rock bottom. It's been a tough period for Alois Schwartz and his team, but two draws in their last two games have given hope to the fans. Daniel Schulz, Simon Tüting and Rene Gartler made the starting eleven at the expense of Timo Achenbach, Florian Hubner and Stefan Kulovits.
As for the visitors, a seemingly strong side had not yet made their break for the promotion places. Valérien Ismaël was having a tough start to his tenure in Bavaria, with a mid-table placing the only position they'd held with any regularity. Jakub Slyvestr had seemingly found his feet and just two changes were made, after the Czech striker rescued a point against St. Pauli; Jan Polak and Javier Pinola took the places of Manuel Bihr and Jürgen Mössmer.
Both goalkeepers were called into action early on in the game, as neither side seemed content to settle for just a point. Patrick Rakovsky and Marco Knaller produced fine saves; one-on-one with the custodians, they kept Slyvestr and Andrew Wooten at bay, although it wasn't long until the visitors had their noses in front.
Some fantastic build up play allowed Alessandro Schpöf the time and space to turn, before putting in a great ball towards Polak. He flicked the ball on towards Niclas Füllkrug, with the attacker slapping the ball past a helpless Knaller. A fantastic strike, that was placed with perfection towards the bottom corner, a massive goal for der Club. Though it was to prove short lived joy, as a crucial double save was to follow from the Austrian stopper, which seemed to finally waken his side from slumber.
Sandhausen were able to repay the efforts of their shot-stopper, by equalising moments after his inspired saves. A hopeful ball in from Wooten was missed by the entire Nürnberg defence; on their heels, they couldn't react quickly enough and that allowed Alexander Bieler a chance to bring the ball down. The former-Gladbach midfielder, with the aid of a deflection, beat Rakovsky and levelled the match.
Füllkrug and Slyvestr continued to cause havoc in the hosts' defence, with both attackers firing headed efforts just wide of both posts. Rene Gartler was denied at the other end, in what was proving to be a thoroughly entertaining encounter. However, neither side could find a goal before half-time and they went in level after forty-five minutes.
The game continued at a frezied pace in the second-half, and it was that pace that saw Ondrej Petrak sent off. The Czech centre-half brought down Gartler as the last man, leaving Norbert Grudzinski little option other than to show him the red card. Nürnberg continued to push forward, but some stubborn Sandhausen defensive work managed to keep out their threat; instead, it was the home side who took the lead.
It was Wooten, who was a constant thorn in the side, who managed to fire home from twelve yards. Some messy play in and around the box had the ball bobbling everywhere, until Marco Thiede broke towards the by-line and crossed the ball for the American to slam into the net, sending the home fans into a frenzy. They managed to hang on for an absolutely vital three points and their first win in months.
Nürnberg will be disappointed to loss a game that they had the better of the chances and play in. However, the international break may have come at the right time to let Ismaël regroup and get his troops going once more; it'll be a tough task against Ingolstadt, but one they will most definitely relish.