Goals from Zlatko Dedic and Mario Engels were enough to put an out-of-sorts Heidenheim side to the sword and secure their first home win of the 2.Bundesliga season.
Benno Möhlmann was left to rue his side's luck once more, after a series of deflections saw his men fall to a 0-2 defeat at home to Fortuna Düsseldorf. He was boosted by the return of captain Manuel Konrad, following suspension, meaning Joni Kauko dropped to the bench. Edmond Kapllani was also benched, with Zlatko Dedic taking his place in the starting eleven.
There were wholesale changes from Frank Schmidt and his Heidenheim side, who'd been on a tough run of late. Philip Heise, Alper Bagceci, Marcel Titsch-Rivero (who scored the equaliser against Erzgebirge Aue) and Manuel Janzer took their place in the starting side, while Michael Vitzthum, Julius Reinhardt, Robert Leipertz and Patrick Mayer dropped out, respectively.
Marc Schnatterer and Florian Niederlechner were combining almost instantly, though the latter fired wide a first time volley after a pin-point cross from the Heidenheim captain. The hosts went one closer soon after, as Hanno Balitsch hit the post from Manuel Konrad's volley; the rotten luck seemed to be continuing at home, as the the centre-back was inches from tapping in the rebound. It was an end-to-end affair and had Niederlechner made contact with an early delivery from Alper Bagceci, they would have been celebrating an opening goal.
The game was being dominated by young Mario Engels, who had already twisted and turned Philip Heise inside and out until he was booked, helped set up the opening goal. Vincenzo Grifo hung a great cross to the back post, where Engels had his effort parried by Felix-Adrian Körber. The 'keeper couldn't turn it away from danger and was suitably punished, as Zlatko Dedic prodded the ball into the empty net and that sprung fantastic celebrations from the Frankfurt fans and players, who were still without a win at the Volksbank Stadion.
The ball fell perfectly for Balitsch, this time, to strike towards goal, but the centre-back was leaning back and couldn't keep his effort on target. His expressions afterwards said it all, he knew he should have at least hit the target. Frankfurt remained on the offensive until the break, but couldn't force through a second crucial goal while they had the momentum.
Although they didn't have to wait long after the break until they added a second goal, as Engels notched up a deserved strike. It was a fantastic team goal, with Alexander Bitroff and Joan Oumari made brilliant runs towards goal and the latter then fed Engels. The youngster went to be by-line, unchallenged, before cutting inside and lashing the ball into the roof of the net. He wheeled away in jubilation, knowing his goal had almost guaranteed a vital three points.
Dedic, after being put through by Tom Beugelsdijk, took aim and thundered a twenty-five yard effort onto the bar. Balitsch was busy at both ends, with the veteran defender making a quite fantastic recovering tackle to deny Niederlechner a shot on goal. Frankfurt knew they had the game in the bag, so they were more than happy to let Heidenheim have the ball and run the clock down when in possession.
Heidenheim's worryingly poor end to the year continues, having picked up five points from the fifteen available in recent games. A game against in-form Eintracht Braunschweig isn't the greatest game to try and halt the side, but a clash that they'll be determined to prove themselves in. FSV rise to thirteenth and put six points between themselves and 1860 Munich in sixteenth. A tough trip to Karlsruher SC awaits, though a home win will be a monkey off their backs and could take the pressure off away from the Volksbank Stadion.