Ken Reichel's 92nd minute volley saw Eintracht Braunschweig earn a late, great 1-0 win over fellow promotion hopefuls, Dynamo Dresden.
Team news
Following their nil-nil draw with SpVgg Greuther Fürth in mid-week, Torsten Lieberknecht made four changes to the side that started against the Shamrocks. Quirin Moll (10 yellows), Joseph Baffo, Christoffer Nyman and Domi Kumbela (all benched) were replaced by Hendrick Zuck, Niko Kijewski, Jan Hochscheidt and Suleiman Abdullahi.
As for Dynamo, they were still on a high after a late show saw them beat 1. FC Heidenheim 2-1 on Wednesday. Uwe Neuhaus' only alteration was enforced, with Marvin Stefaniak absent due to suspension. Andreas Lambertz was brought in as his replacement.
Dull first half
The first 20 minutes were tight and tense, with neither side able to make much in the way of early movement. Onel Hernandez and Abdullahi had early attempts blocked and fly off target, while Hochscheidt looked impressive through the middle. Dynamo's influence on the game was minimal, with misplaced passes cutting short any attacks.
Aside from Ken Reichel's early slice off target, a curling effort from Hochscheidt was the closest they came. Lambertz then played Stefan Kutschke in on goal, although his shot was easily gathered by Jasmin Fejzic. Mirko Boland was next to try his luck but his effort was similarly poor. It was a forgettable first half, with neither 'keeper troubled.
Reichel wins it, again
Christoffer Nyman was brought on at the break for Abdullahi, who had been quiet after his early shot at goal. However, it was Dynamo who began brightly in the second period. Kutschke had a header saved by Fejzic after some tidy play around the area from Erich Berko and Aias Aosman.
Braunschweig too were looking dangerous when the chance arose, and the always dangerous Hernandez's cut-back to Kijweski was brilliantly blocked by the brave Florian Ballas. Despite the promising beginning to the half, things quickly went back to how they were prior to the flurry of activity. Yet, the game seemed on more of an edge.
Andy Gogia and Salim Khelifi were both brought on with 15 minutes to go in order to try and find a breakthrough, yet it was Hernandez who continued to trouble Dynamo. Jannik Müller gave up possession in his own box and Hernandez played it to Nyman in the middle, but Marvin Schwäbe made a smart save with his legs to deny the Swede.
Braunschweig had another great opening moments later after Schwäbe dropped a cross under pressure from Kutschke, which ended up thrashed into the side-netting from Saulo Decarli. Things were winding down to a close with very little in the way of kinks in either side's armour.
A certain someone had something to say about that, however. In the 92nd minute, a free-kick was launched deep into the Dynamo box. The ball wasn't cleared properly and dropped on the edge of the area. The visitors had kept them quiet all evening, but Reichel's left footed volley from 20 yards, once again, found the bottom corner.
The captain, who has been with them for a decade, had got them out of jail late on with another screamer. Dresden were flattened, Braunschweig elatted. The Lions went joint-top with the win while Dynamo, on the other hand, eight points behind Hannover 96 in third.