Despite their best efforts neither MSV Duisburg or 1. FC Nürnberg could score on Saturday afternoon, as the points were shared in Westfalen.
Duisburg made two changes after they were beaten by 1. FC Heidenheim last weekend, with Kevin Scheidhauer, Kingsley Onuegbu and Victor Obinna being replaced by Steffen Bohl, Giorgi Chanturia and Stanislav Iljutchenko. Nürnberg made just two changes from their 1-1 draw with FSV Frankfurt, as Georg Margreitter and Thorsten Kirschbaum took the places of Even Hovland and Raphael Schäfer.
First half lacks quality
It was an even start at the Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena and Chanturia had a great chance to put the home side ahead after a poor pass in the visiting defence. The Georgian burst onto the ball and beat two players before rifling a shot just wide from the edge of the area.
That was the only real piece of quality in the opening 20 minutes, as both sides struggled to keep possession. This was understandably annoying for the fans, who know that their attacking players have much more quality than what was on show.
Another chance finally fell to Duisburg on the half-hour mark, and Chanturia was the beneficiary of some determined play from Dennis Grote. The winger ran the channel well, before going past Margreitter and laying the ball off to his team-mate. Chanturia, however, failed to hit the target once more.
Two set-piece opportunities quickly followed for each side. First, Duisburg's Branimir Bajic ghosted in at the far post from a corner, though was unable to make solid contact with the ball as it flew just over. At the other end, a mistimed header and volley prevented René Weiler's side from opening the scoring.
A similar second period
Half-time saw the largely ineffective Danny Blum replaced by Robert Koch, allowing Guido Burgstaller to move up front and lead the line. Nürnberg were the better side in the opening exchanges, too. Tim Leibold and Miso Brecko both came close to getting a goal, although their shots just couldn't find the back of the net.
The Franconians came closer still on the hour mark when a lovely passing move saw Burgstaller freed on goal, only for James Holland to make a crucial recovering tackle. Martin Dausch and the Zebras responded with a well-struck free-kick, which went narrowly over Kirschbaum's bar.
It was a dominant second half display from the visitors and they could have won the game in the final minute. A wonderful cross from Alessandro Schöpf was met by Stefan Kutschke, though the substitute just failed to keep his header down and the points were shared at the final whistle.