The 2.Bundesliga once again provides us with some mouth-watering games and one of those saw 5th place Kaiserslautern host 10th place Bochum. The Red Devils went into the game with an unbeaten run of four games, after narrowly losing to Nürnberg they've picked up one win and three draws. Bochum on the other hand have been struggling in recent weeks, they haven't picked up a win in six games, seven if you include their cup defeat to Dynamo Dresden. Despite the difference in form this was certainly going to be a tight encounter.
Kaiserslautern got down to business early on in the game and after just three minutes they had a great chance to take the lead. Kevin Stöger produced a brilliant long ball forward to catch the Bochum defence off guard and pick out Amin Younes all on his own, the 'Gladbach loanee rushed his effort and the weak shot comfortably rolled into the arms of Andreas Luthe. Kaiserslautern continued to stay on top in the early stages and they should've taken the lead after ten minutes. Michael Schulze played the ball down the line to Karim Matmour and the Algerian managed to pick out Srđan Lakić for a golden chance, the Croatian was all alone in the box, despite that he blazed over despite having plenty of the goal to aim at.
Bochum managed to keep out Kaiserslautern and started to get more adventurous and they came close through Malcom Cacutalua, after a cross from the left the defender leapt up, beating both Chris Löwe and Willi Orban to the ball and guided his header towards the top corner, Tobias Sippel proved he was able to stay alert and brilliantly tipped the header over the bar.
Another chance for the home side to take the lead came when Younes slipped the ball through to Ruben Jenssen and his ball across was about to reach Lakić in the middle, however Luthe rushed out to to reach the ball at full stretch and Anthony Losilla was there to clear the danger. Despite Jenssen's cross almost finding it's target, the Norweign should've found his man with the amount of time and space he had.
Bochum took a surprise lead just past the half hour mark, after being terrorised by Matmour, Timo Perthel did some of his own. The left-back burst down the left and delivered an excellent cross that was just out of the reach of Sippel and Dominique Heintz, with both missing the ball Simon Terodde was allowed to slot in at the back post.
The goal gave the Bochum a much needed lift, however they almost conceded before the break when Lakić's costless-kick took a deflection off Yusuke Tasaka's head before going narrowly over. Soon after Terodde showed he was still on a high after his goal by trying an effort from just inside his own half, unfortunate for the striker it didn't have enough power on it and Sippel was able to collect.
Kaiserslautern started the second half in the same way as the first half, they flew out the blocks and they quickly managed to get themselves level, Bochum looking like they were still in the changing rooms. A long ball out wide to Matmour saw the winger bring it down well before delivering a quality cross to Lakić, who this time made no mistakes as he scored with an excellent stretching header.
Bochum's Patrick Fabian was certainly in the wars today and he was forced off when he clashed with his goalkeeper, the defender was clearly dazed and was no longer able to continue.
Kaiserslautern were having the better of possession in the second half and despite this they were struggling to find a second. Younes almost provided a magical moment when he drifted inside and after beating three players his shot on the edge of the area was deflected out for a corner. A rare second half chance for Bochum saw Tasaka try his luck from distance and it almost paid off as his effort curled just over.
As the game entered the last ten minutes Kaiserslautern made the most of some casual defending, Schulze was allowed to easily run through the defence before back-heeling to Matmour, the impressive Algerian grabbed his second assist of the game as his pass to Sebastian Jacob saw the substitute turn and fire past Luthe. This was Jacob's first ever 2.Bundesliga goal.
Two minutes from time Löwe gave away a costlesskick in a wide area and this gave Bochum a chance to level things, they did just that. Tasaka put in a great cross and another substitute managed to get on the score sheet, Stanislav Šesták leapt the highest in order to guide the ball past Sippel. The last chance of the game fell to Kaiserslautern, Luthe could only punch a cross from the left to the edge of the area, Jacob was there to control before firing just over.
It was an entertaining game of football, however Kaiserslautern and their fans will be disappointed that they weren't able to take all three points, they had a number of great chances and they also had plenty of possession. Bochum did very well to come away with a point and they'd be delighted with that, the late equaliser denied them a third loss in a row. With the draw Kaiserslautern move into third place for now, while Bochum stay in 10th place. After the international break Kaiserslautern host Darmstadt and Bochum host Aalen.