Another good performance from Torsten Lieberknecht's Eintracht Braunschweig has them sitting on the edge of the promotion play-off spot, after securing a 1-0 win over VfL Bochum.

Khelifi strikes just before the break

Nik Omladic had a strong shot on goal acrobatically tipped over by Andreas Luthe early on, but Arvydas Novikovas responded quickly and went mere inches away from scoring a spectacular goal himself. The Lithuanian international cut inside before curling just over the crossbar.

A few moments later and Bochum were back on the attack. A wonderful cross into the area from Timo Perthel found Peniel Mlapa unmarked in the centre, though his effort cannoned back off the post. Tim Hoogland somehow managed to turn the rebound goalwards, though Rafal Gikiewicz seemed to defy logic and gravity with a stunning reflex save.

Mads Hvilsom very nearly turned in a Salim Khelifi cross at the other end, and it was the same combination reversed that would bring an opening goal. The Danish forward burst down the by-line before a deflected cross was turned in by Khelifi at the near post, beating Luthe through his legs just before the break.

Bastians' penalty saved at the death

Novikovas was, seemingly, the only bright spark for Bochum and he struck a powerful effort just past the post as the game restarted. Despite his attacking contribution, the same could not be said of his efforts in the tackle. Two bookings in the space of five minutes saw Guido Winkmann brandish a red card, with no complaints from the winger or his team-mates.

Winkmann was subject to fervent appeals soon after, as Marco Terrazzino's cross appeared to be handled by Ken Reichel. The resulting effort fell to Anthony Losilla, who had his drive fly just past the post. They were denied a clear spot-kick at that point, but Joesph Baffo's challenge on Thomas Eisfeld left no-one doubting Winkmann's decision. Unfortunately for the visitors, Felix Bastians' penalty was poor and Gikiewicz was able to save. The final whistle went not long after, sealing another disappointing defeat for VfL.