A solitary strike from Korbinian Vollmann was enough to secure a sixth successive Bundesliga season for SV Sandhausen, as they beat Würzburger Kickers. The 1-0 defeat means the Kickers need to beat VfB Stuttgart next weekend to have any chance of staying up.
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Würzburg and Bernd Hollerbach were desperate to end their winless streak, which continued with a late Fortuna Düsseldorf equaliser that condemned them to a 15th game without a win. Hollerbach made just one change from that game, as Peter Kurzweg replaced Valdet Rama in the starting line-up.
As for Sandhausen, Kenan Kocak's side had limped to the finish in the second half of the season but were still not yet mathematically safe before this game. Marco Thiede and Damian Roßbach were both dropped following the 1-0 loss to 1. FC Nürnberg a week prior, as both Philipp Klingmann and Leart Paqarada started in their place.
Vollmann opens the scoring
It was as cagey as one would expect in the opening few minutes in Würzburg, though there were a few openings for either side. Most of those came from the wide areas, as Nejmeddin Daghfous' dangerous cross just evaded the desperate attempts of Elia Soriano to slide the ball home.
However, as has been the case on many, many matchdays with Würzburg this season, they fell behind. A spectacular ball from Denis Linsmayer over the home defensive found Vollmann darting in behind, and showed expert control to bring the ball down on his chest. Daghfous had been turned, and Vollmann finished well to open the scoring.
The remainder of the half provided little for either set of fans to get excited about. Tobias Schröck's run brought about a good black from Tim Knipping, while Hollerbach called upon Rama to replace Patrick Weihrauch. At the other end, Tim Kister's header was easily dealt with by Jörg Siebenhandl in a dull end to the first half.
Sandhausen cling on for three points
The second half started with changes, with four inside the opening 10 minutes. Stefan Kulovits was forced off with a head injury, which brought on Markus Karl. Daniel Lukasik also replaced Vollmann in a bid to hold back the home side's waves of attacks, while Lukas Fröde was replaced by Marco Königs in the search for a goal.
The first real opening in the second half came just before the hour mark, as Schröck rose highest to meet Daghfous' corner. He got up well, but ultimately saw his effort crash out off the post. It was an almost non-existent half in terms of the Sandhausen attack, as Kurzweg and David Pisot also came close to a priceless equaliser.
Despite their best efforts, including Rico Benatelli's blocked free-kick and Elia Soriano's disallowed goal in the 91st minute, no goal could be found and it looks increasingly bleak for the Kickers. They must win at the Mercedes-Benz Arena and hope that other results go their way to have any hope of staying in 2. Bundesliga.