Second division relegation: Braunschweig creates a comfortable starting position

Eintracht Braunschweig has taken a big step closer to remaining in the second Bundesliga, dampening1. FC Saarbrücken 's hopes of returning to professional football after nineteen years. The Lower Saxony team won the first leg of the relegation playoff against the third-placed team in the third division 2-0 (0-0) and can secure their place in the league in the return match next Tuesday (8:30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the relegation playoffs and on Sky).

In front of 15,000 spectators in the sold-out Saarbrücken Ludwigsparkstadion, Lino Tempelmann in the 49th minute and Marvin Rittmüller (61st) scored the goals for the guests, who overall seemed more mature than the Saarlanders.

"We played a good game today, conceded little at the back and had our moments up front," praised Braunschweig's sports director Benjamin Kessel on Sat.1, and announced: "We won't let up one bit. Now we want to seal the deal on Tuesday."

Saarbrücken coach Alois Schwartz, on the other hand, was disillusioned. "You could see that Braunschweig is a good team when the game is open. We didn't manage to get behind the opponent's defense. And when we did get through, we were a few centimeters short or we made the wrong decision," Schwartz summarized.

After the short-term coaching change at the beginning of the week – the previous assistant coach Marc Pfitzner took over from the dismissed Daniel Scherning as boss – the Lower Saxony team presented themselves much more stable than in the recent defeats in the second division final spurt against Nuremberg (1:4) and in Elversberg (0:3).

The home team, who had caused a sensation last season by reaching the cup semifinals, barely put Braunschweig under pressure. Only a shot from Kai Brünker (16') that narrowly missed the target threatened the visitors in the first half.

The spectators didn't see any exciting moments at first. Both teams were afraid to take risks, keen to avoid falling behind. The action largely took place between the penalty areas. Braunschweig had their best chance to take the lead shortly before halftime, when Ermin Bicakcic narrowly missed a low cross from Robin Krauße.

Shortly after the break, the visitors celebrated. Rayan Philippe's quick counterattack was initially denied by the onrushing FCS goalkeeper Philipp Menzel, but Tempelmann slotted the rebound into the empty Saarbrücken net from around twenty meters. Twelve minutes later, Rittmüller added another with a well-placed low shot into the corner.