Eintracht Braunschweig 1-1 Dynamo Dresden: Points shared as both sides fail to move out of danger

Neither Eintracht Braunschweig nor Dynamo Dresden were able to put clear daylight between themselves at the bottom three as they played out a 1-1 draw in the 2. Bundesliga.

Haris Deljovic had given the away side an early lead but Braunschweig responded to that goal with an equaliser from Philipp Hofmann.

Neither side then did enough in the second half to warrant all three points, although they are both now three points and a further two places clear of the relegation zone.

Early Duljevic goal cancelled out by Hofmann

Both sides’ indifferent seasons have seen them dragged into the relegation scrap, with both just two points clear of 1. FC Heidenheim in the relegation play-off spot before kick-off, yet three points for either would move them up to eighth, or maybe even seventh in Braunschweig’s case. The visitors were unchanged from their 1-1 draw with 1. FC Nürnberg last weekend, but after losing to VfL Bochum, Braunschweig made three – injured skipper Ken Reichel, Onur Bulut and Domi Kumbela were replaced by Louis Samson, Georg Teigl and Hofmann.

Dresden started the stronger, with Niklas Hauptmann striking the post with a strike deflected off Moussa Koné in the first few minutes, and they didn’t have to wait much longer to take the lead. Koné gave the ball to Duljevic, who despite being outside the box went for goal, and his low curling strike was just out of the reach of Jasmin Fejzic on its way in.

The remained on top, with Hauptmann unlucky that another attempt from him deflected wide off the face of Samson. However with just over 20 minutes played Braunschweig found their way back into the game. Jan Hochscheidt’s cross found its way to Hofmann in the box, who did excellently to control it, beat Jannik Müller and hook the ball past Marvin Schwäbe.

It would remain all square at the break, with Teigl having a shot saved for Braunschweig and Dresden having the rest of the chances on goal, including a couple for Rico Benatelli and an effort wide from Duljevic. Both sides lost players to injuries though, with Müller hobbling off for Dresden and Suleiman Abdullahi having to be replaced by Kumbela for the hosts.

Neither side able to make a further breakthrough

There was end-to-end action at the start of the second half as both teams looked to make it 2-1. Substitute Kumbela’s cross was headed wide by Hofmann, who then had a shot deflect wide after Hochscheidt’s run through the middle. For Dresden, Koné had a big chance but he was unable to beat the goalkeeper Fejzic.

Neither was able to keep up that pace though, with opportunities becoming more and more sporadic as the half wore on. Dresden captain Marco Hartmann headed over a corner, whilst a Duljovic volley didn’t come close to giving him a second shot of the game. Braunschweig didn’t test Schwäbe much either, with a weak shot wide from Teigl and an easy take for the Dresden keeper from a Kumbela header.

As the end of the game approach, Braunschweig’s fans were convinced they should have had a penalty. Kumbela came forward in the box, and went down under pressure from a couple of Dresden defenders, however referee Sven Jablonski didn’t see enough to warrant pointing to the spot, and it appeared to be the right decision.

In the end neither set of players looked happy as the final whistle went, with both having failed to create one big chance at the end snatch all three points. Having started the game in 14th and 15th respectively though, they move up a couple of places above SpVgg Greuther Fürth and FC St. Pauli, but it was a chance missed to make the next couple of weeks a little less stress in this remarkable relegation battle.