A second half header from Dustin Bomheuer gave MSV Duisburg a vital win against the 2. Bundesliga’s bottom side 1. FC Kaiserslautern.
The Zebras were the better of two poor sides, with Bomheuer’s winner coming after Mortiz Stoppelkamp had missed a first half penalty.
It’s their first win in six matches to move four points clear of the relegation zone, with Kaiserslautern three points adrift of safety.
Stoppelkamp penalty miss livens up abject first half
Unbeaten in their first two games under Jeff Strasser, Kaiserslautern were still looking to move off the bottom of the table by taking advantage of defeats for 1. FC Heidenheim and SpVgg Greuther Fürth, with Duisburg only three points ahead as well. Both sides were unchanged from their respective draws last weekend.
Much of the first half proved to be a damp squid in the south western rain, however both sides had a few chances early on. An early cross from Moritz Stoppelkamp couldn’t quite find the head of Boris Tashchy, whilst another created a chance for himself due to sloppy Kaiserslautern defending and it was parried by Marius Müller. The Red Devils had some good moves, with one cross from Joel Abu Hanna precise, but put over by Gerrit Nauber.
After a good 20 minutes of very little happening, there was controversy as Duisburg were awarded a penalty. A good ball was played forward by Tashchy to Cauly Oliveira Souza, and Müller rushed out to stop him and appeared to bring him down, although he fell to ground rather theatrically. Stoppelkamp however blasted his penalty past the top corner and the game remained goalless.
That at least woke up the Zebras, with Lukas Fröde then shooting over before Oliveira Souza had an effort put wide by Müller. Kaiserslautern then caught them on the counter, however Manfred Osei Kwadwo struck over with the last opportunity of the half.
Bomheuer earns Duisburg vital three points
That spark at the end of the first half was truly fizzled out again by the time the two sides made it back out for the second. The first 20 minutes saw both sides completely bereft of ideas in the final third, although there was some light relief as a Kaiserslautern player overran into a photographer over the side-line.
Kevin Wolze finally made something happen, with his shot put over the bar by Müller. That proved crucial, as from Fabian Schnellhardt’s corner, Bomheuer rose highest to head into the back of the net to finally break the deadlock.
It said a lot about Kaiserslautern’s response that their best chance after the goal came from defender Benjamin Kessel outside the box. Needless to say, his shot was held, at the second attempt, by Mark Flekken. Wolze had a chance from distance at the other end put over by Müller, although the effort was clearly heading off target.
This bottom-of-the-table tussle would unsurprisingly fizzle out with a whimper. A poor afternoon for Kaiserslautern who had been showing signs of improvement under Strasser, but Duisburg pick up a vital three points to add some breathing space between themselves and the bottom three.