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KSC - FCK

Head coach Marco Kurz made one change to the team that defeated FC St. Pauli 3-0 on Monday, naming Markus Steinhöfer to patrol the right wing instead of Ivo Ilicevic. Apart from that change, Kurz kept faith with his successful squad lining up Nemec and Jendrisek up front and the agile Sidney Sam on the left.

Once referee Fleischer whistled play underway on a very stormy afternoon in Karlsruhe, the 28,745 crowd at the Wildpark Stadium saw a very dull first quarter with both teams scanning the other one. The Red Devils displayed creative build-up play from scratch, maintaining possession and dominating the happenings on the field of play. However, Kurz’s men did not succeed in creating promising scoring opportunities as the deep-lying home side prevented the visitors from creating space and getting behind the defense.

With 20 minutes on the clock, Alexander Bugera fed Erik Jendrisek in the box, but the Slovak’s attempt was stopped by the KSC defense. Five minutes later, ex KSC player Florian Dick left behind his marker on the right feeding Jendrisek in the middle of the penalty area just to see his team-mate’s header flying wide. At the other end, Chrisantus appeared in front of goal but FCK team captain Martin Amedick cleared the situation (32). The Red Devils still dominated the game but were unable to prize open the packed KSC defense.

It was against the run of play as Chrisantus had the ball in the net one minute into stoppage time. Converting the only scoring opportunity for his team, the KSC striker headed home from a Akin cross leaving Sippel with no chance to parry (45+1). That left the Red Devils with 45 minutes to turn things round.        

The goal seemed to have injected fresh impetus to both teams as the second half began with more pace and less reluctant opponents at both ends. The visitors from the Palatinate did not lose any time before demonstrating their determination to battle back as Steinhöfer fired in a shot from the right barely two minutes after the restart. However, he should have done better since his attempt flew wide and was followed by just another shot beside the goal. At the other end, Iashvili tested Sippel, but the Germany Under-21 goalkeeper saved capably (53).

The 8,000 FCK supporters at the Wildpark Stadium saw their team scoring the equalizer with Erik Jendrisek drilling a low shot past Miller from an excellent Bugera corner kick (55). That seemed to have inspired Marco Kurz’s side into a strong rally as the Red Devils bossed play afterwards attacking the KSC goal again and again. Miller saved capably from Jendrisek and Bugera (59, 63) while Stindl forced Sippel to pull out a stunning reaction save as he thundered a free kick on goal (69).

Marco Kurz went for fresh impetus twenty minutes from time with the introduction of Srdjan Lakic who took over from Adam Nemec. And the Red Devils comfortably held the upper hand going into the closing stages as Sidney Sam fed Lakic in the box with the sub putting his team in the lead as he buried the ball in the net from close range (79).

Ten minutes from time, FCK coach Marco Kurz replaced Steinhöfer and Jendrisek by Ilicevic and Hornig. The home side struggled to get back on track after Lakic’s goal, but the visitors enhanced the pace during the last minutes of the game combining brilliantly while displaying excellent give-and-goes. Two minutes into stoppage time, Srdjan Lakic completed the brace as he rose in the box to power home from a clear-cut Bugera free kick as he secured three points for his side. The derby win sees the Red Devils extend their lead at the top to six points.