SpVgg Greuther Fürth moved out of the automatic relegation places with an important victory over Dynamo Dresden.
Dresden had plenty of chances to take the lead early on, however after failing to take them, Lukas Gugganig put the hosts ahead shortly before the break.
They hung on through the second half, without extended their lead, with the three points taking them above SV Darmstadt 98, although results elsewhere denied them the opportunity to move out of the 2. Bundesliga bottom three altogether.
Fürth survive early Dresden pressure to lead at break
Fürth could have moved out of the bottom three with a win, and made three changes from the 3-0 defeat to FC Ingolstadt 04, with Robert Hilbert, Levent Aycicek and Uffe Bech coming into the starting line-up, with David Raum, Patrick Sontheimer and Serdar Dursun dropping out. Niklas Kreuzer and Jannik Müller were both suspended for Dresden, but they were able to welcome back Paul Seguin and Florian Ballas into the team that beat VfL Bochum last weekend.
Dresden, five places better off in the table than the hosts before kick-off, started very brightly. A cross from Philip Heise with just over 60 seconds gone found Niklas Hauptmann, whose first-time strike was saved by Sascha Burchert. Lucas Röser was then denied by the Fürth goalkeeper after a cross from the other side from Seguin. The resulting corner was not dealt with, and after switching onto his stronger foot, Manuel Konrad’s shot in space was also saved.
Röser would also come close with a shot that deflected wide, before a little later on he managed to strike the crossbar. Fürth were clinging on but did have the odd chance themselves in between, as Bech tested Markus Schubert with a bicycle kick, with the Dresden keeper tipping it over the bar.
Indeed as the first half wore on, the hosts were becoming more adventurous, with Julian Green having another shot saved by Schubert and a few other forays forward being held back by the Dresden defence. Green though then won a free-kick, from with Maximillian Wittek struck the bar. The ball fell to Gugganig, who on the rebound saw space to his left to place the ball and put his team ahead, perhaps a little fortuitously after the opening stages.
No comeback for Dresden
Khaled Narey came close for Fürth inside the first minute of the second half, but he put his shot wide. The visitors were struggling to get going again after going behind, with efforts from Konrad and Heise not testing Burchert.
The home side were thoroughly on top, as Green charged forward only for his shot to be deflected out by the covering defender, Marcel Franke. Marco Caligiuri’s header caused Dresden no concern, but Fürth should have doubled their lead shortly after. Narey crossed the ball in, and Bech came sliding in to meet it. A clean connection would have made it 2-0, but instead he scuffed it and the ball went sideways. He was taken off shortly after.
At the other end, Burchert then had a bit to do, parrying a cross from Heise before seeing Sascha Horvath put the rebound over. Hauptmann then had a shot cleared by Mario Maloca before a Ballas header was saved by Burchert. Fürth remained dangerous though, with a Wittek long-range free-kick having to be put wide by Schubert, before he found Narey with a good ball, only for the winger a shoot a little erratically.
Dresden kept pushing for an equaliser right to the end, but in the end they couldn’t find one, Rico Benatelli going wide twice in the closing stages. It meant the hosts had three points in the bag, but Erzgebirge Aue’s draw with Ingolstadt denied them the chance to move entirely out of the relegation zone.