The big game at the bottom saw eighteenth host seventeenth in Aalen. It became immediately clear that they were the side in control and goals from Andreas Hofmann, Collin Quaner and Markus Steinhöfer rounded off an impeccable performance and secured a vital three points.
Aalen and Stefan Ruthenbeck had been undergoing a rough patch recently and had slipped to last place in the 2. Bundesliga, following St. Pauli's point on Sunday. Sascha Mockenhaput, Andreas Ludwig and Dennis Chessa were dropped for a more attacking approach, with Dominik Drexler, Fabio Kaufmann and Michael Klauß earning a starting berth.
Things weren't exactly much better for Aue. Despite a remarkable start to the Rückrunde, they hadn't won in their last three games and were now in the automatic relegation places. Injury and a lack of form forced coach Tomislav Stipic into several changes; Martin Männel, Nils Mitake, Michael Fink, Rico Benatelli and Dorian Diring were replaced by Sascha Kirschstein, René Klingbeil, Roman Golobart, Sebastian Hertner and Marcin Sieber.
It was almost the perfect start for the host, but Drexler drove his shot just wide of the post following some fine build-up play. The attacker could have been made to regret that miss instantly, though Daniel Bernhardt was able paw Vladimir Rankovic's cross out of Stefan Mugosa's reach.
Collin Quaner earned the hosts a valuable in their last outing at Greuther Fürth, though his free header from a yard out somehow went wide of the goal; much to the dismay of the fans behind the net.
Aalen were dominating and thwarted by Kirschstein's immense reach that parried away Kaufmann's sliding effort. Quaner had a similar attempt moments later but he turned it just wide of the post.
The pressure finally paid off in the thirty-sixth minute, as Andreas Hofmann headed home the opener. The midfielder leapt unchallenged and above everyone else to power a header home, with Hertner just failing to hack the ball away in time. The relief was huge and Hofmann instantly turned to the home support and jumped for joy.
The break came and went, but Aalen's dominance remained constant. Thirteen shots to one after just fifty minutes was a stat that reflected just how well they'd played, knowing how important a win was to their survival hopes. Kaufmann and Klauß had further good chances that they nearly converted, though the ball flashed inches wide on both occasions.
Aue finally created a chance of note in the second half and it required a strong fist from Bernhardt to clear away Patrick Schönfeld's dangerous cross. Though that was just minutes before Aalen added a second.
Jurgen Gjasula's cross was flighted towards the back post and found Quaner, who had anticipated the delivery well. He finally took his chance and confidently volleyed home his second in as many games, to give Aalen some breathing space.
There was still time for the hosts to add some gloss to the scoreline. After Kirschstein made a good initial save, the ball to an open and free Markus Steinhöfer and he gleefully tapped into the open net to make it three-nil.
The win moved Aalen off the bottom and into sixteenth, which meant that Aue dropped to the bottom of the table. Aalen have a chance to exit the relegation places altogether when they face 1860 Munich next weekend, while Aue host out-of-form Fürth.