After losing 5-1 to Fürth early in the season, Nürnberg were unable to avenge that defeat on Saturday afternoon. Even with a man advantage for more than half an hour, after Stephan Schröck saw red, they couldn't capitalise and the visitors picked up a very impressive point.

Nürnberg were coming into the game with four wins in their last five, with coach René Weiler working wonders. He was getting the best out of a squad that should have been pushing the promotion places much earlier in the season. The Frankenstadion side were triumphant in mid-week and beat Erzgebirge Aue by a goal-to-nil, thanks to former-Aue striker Jakub Sylvestr. Weiler, with no reason to change, kept the same line-up that won on Wednesday.

For Fürth, the run without a goal continued for a fourth game. Bochum and some resolute defending managed to hold the Shamrocks to a nil-nil draw in the week, which also meant they'd drawn four of their last five games. As Frank Kramer eluded to, it was the taking of chances that proved to be the problem. To try and remedy this, Fürth's coach brought in Kacper Przybylko for Zhi-Gin Lam.

The hosts were dominating the opening exchanges and had several good opportunities to open the scoring, although the Fürth defence stood firm to keep out both Alessandro Schöpf and Sylvestr. As many were expecting, the tackles were flying in at a rate of knots and Stephan Schröck even lost his boot at one stage. Florian Meyer, knowing the size of the occasion, to his credit, was letting some of the more robust challenges slide.

Despite their possession, Nürnberg were failing to create many chances of note. In saying that, Patrick Rakovsky was merely a spectator for the opening half an hour, as the home 'keeper only had to claim a few through balls that had drifted past his well-marshaled back-line. When Rakovsky was called into action, the ball fell into the net, but it was rightly ruled out for Robert Zulj's foul on the stopper. Fürth would have their best chance of the half in the final minutes, but Przybylko's header flew over the bar.

The game looked to be in the hands of Nürnberg, when Schröck saw red. The Fürth right-back was booked twice within five minutes and the high challenge on Niklas Füllkrug left Meyer with no option, but to show him a second yellow. That, of course, meant Kramer had to re-shuffle and Zulj was sacrificed for Zsolt Korcsmar. Nevertheless, the visiting defence remained solid and showed no signs of cracking under the immense pressure.

There were no real shots on goal for the majority of the half, as any danger came from crosses driven across the face of goal. Unfortunately, for both sides, no-one could make any contact on Marco Stiepermann or Füllkrug's deliveries. Wolfgang Hesl was rarely tested after Fürth went down to ten men, in fact he was busier when there was no numerical disadvantage for his side.

The draw doesn't do much for either side. Fürth rise one place to eleventh, but will fall back to twelfth if Bochum pick up a point, at home to Aue, on Sunday. As for Nürnberg, it's the first draw of Weiler's reign and it means they remain in eighth position. The league doesn't come back together until early February, where Fürth face table-topping Ingolstadt and der Club travel to FSV Frankfurt.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Jonathan Walsh
SoccerSight IFA commentator. VAVEL deputy editor-in-chief/VAVEL Bundesliga editor-in-chief and writer. Email: [email protected]