Both the joys and the sorrows of football were on display at the Holstein-Stadion in Kiel on Saturday afternoon. As the home side KSV, for whom defeat today sealed demotion to Bundesliga 2, completed one final lap of the stadium and were applauded by their fans, the 1,600-strong travelling support from Freiburg waited to celebrate qualification for Europe with both team and coaching staff.

Julian Schuster was quick to praise the Storks in his post-match press conference: “It’s important to me that I first express my appreciation for Holstein Kiel. It was painful to experience that first-hand today, even though they were first and foremost today our opposition. We didn’t defend well for their goal, but the team’s ability to trust in their ability and remain calm is truly remarkable. I’m really pleased for the team and the fans and am very happy with the win.”

There was one change made to the SCF side who drew 2-2 in Leverkusen for their final away game of the season. Noah Atubolu replaced Florian Müller, who was expecting the birth of his child, between the sticks. Müller was not included in the matchday squad alongside Eren Dinkci, Niklas Beste (both muscular issues) and Maximilian Philipp (knee).

Kiel head coach Marcel Rapp also made one switch ahead of this key fixture. Magnus Knudsen came in for the suspended Nicolai Remberg in central midfield.

Intensive start

It didn’t take long before the two sides were into the swing of things. Ritsu Doan danced into the box after getting on the end of Matthias Ginter’s flick-on from a free-kick, leaving two players in his wake despite being in a tight space before his shot, which took the slightest of deflections, sailed millimetres wide of the target (4’). At the other end, Steven Skrzybski’s long-range effort zipped just past Atubolu’s goal in a similar fashion (9’).

KSV’s seven points taken from their last three matches not only benefited their relegation fight from a numerical perspective but also boosted their self-confidence. It was a typically courageous performance from the North German side, who began to build some slight momentum after Freiburg made the stronger start. The next chance even fell to the hosts: Alexander Bernhardsson’s header from eight yards was too central to pose Atubolu any problems, as he collected the ball safely (22’).

Ginter finds the crossbar, Rosenboom the back of the net

Kiel took the lead in the 24th minute, and not undeservingly so, even though it was frustrating for SCF for two reasons. Before Lasse Rosenboom rounded off a textbook counter attack, beating Atubolu in a one-on-one, Matthias Ginter had just struck the crossbar with a bicycle kick after being set up by Vincenzo Grifo. Three minutes later and the winger himself could only pick out the woodwork with a curling effort.

The visitors quickly reacted to going a goal down, as they got stronger in the tackle and were more direct with the ball. However, they could not find an equaliser. Max Rosenfelder rose highest at the back post following a corner and nodded it past Kiel ‘keeper Thomas Dähne, which had the Freiburg fans ready to burst into celebration. However, Shuto Machino was there on the line to make a vital clearance and save the beaten goalkeeper (34’). Two minutes later, Dähne denied Ritsu Doan with a strong stop, which ensured Kiel retained their lead.

Manzambi and Höler turn the tide

In first-half stoppage time, it all changed. After SCF were denied a penalty by a VAR review, the resulting throw-in resulted in the equaliser. Johan Manzambi went strongly into the aerial duel with Dähne before the ball eventually fell to him on the rebound and he was able to slot it home from close range to level the scores just before half time (45’+2).

It was to be the goalscorer’s final action in the game. The young Frenchman was replaced at the start of the second half by Lucas Höler, who would go on to make a near-instant impact. After some nice play by Doan and a precise cross from Grifo, the striker headed it past Dähne at the back post to make it 2-1 to the visitors (58’).

WIth 1. FC Heidenheim 2-0 up against Union Berlin at the time, the home side knew they had to do more offensively to prevent the looming relegation. Subsequently, SC tightened up at the back, allowed their opposition to come on to them and waited for opportunities to counter.

Freiburg still led narrowly with a quarter of an hour to go at the Holstein-Stadion, with the game remaining intensive going into the closing exchanges. Not a single tackle or aerial duel was being shirked. That said, goal-scoring opportunities were scarce after Freiburg completed the turnaround.

Minute by minute, Kiel turned the screw even more, looking for gaps on their stronger left side, but they rarely found these. After withstanding the eight minutes of added time and letting the home side bid farewell to the Bundesliga in front of their home fans, nothing else could keep SCF from celebrating the victory and its significance in front of the away end. 

Photo: Fabian Bimmer