A devastating first-half display saw Heidenheim comfortably dispatch FSV Frankfurt on Friday evening.
Heidenheim began in their usual pragmatic manner, defending in numbers and happy to hit the hosts on the counter. That was how the opening goal came about. Despite dominating possession, Ben Halloran stole the ball and a march on the opposition before crossing from the right flank. Norman Theuerkauf arriving in the middle and finished coolly.
Arne Feick made a great tackle to deny Felipe Pires' shot, and Frank Schmidt's side quickly kicked on to score a second. Robert Leipertz weaved his way through the Frankfurt defence before striking towards goal on the angle. Ehsan Haji Safi made a desperate attempt to clear the ball away but only succeeded in forcing it into his own goal.
A day to forget from start to finish
The visitors were able to seal things in the final minutes of the opening period. Their incredible run in front of goal continued as Sebastian Griesbeck made it three-nil. Marc Schnatterer's free-kick found Andreas Voglsammer and he knocked on to the midfielder, who joined Theuerkauf on the scoresheet with a fine finish from the edge of the box.
Things got even worse for Frankfurt and Tomas Oral within a two minute period. Smail Morabit scored in just over 30 seconds after he came on. His goal came with his first touch and that proved two much for Joan Oumari, who let his frustrations get the better of him and then hacked down Leipertz.
In the final minutes of the match, Manuel Konrad picked up his fifth yellow card of the season to rule him out of their next game. Things don't get any easier, as they face 1. FC Nürnberg after the international break. Heidenheim will be confident of continuing their good form against MSV Duisburg in two weeks time.