Elversberg see off ten-man Kaiserslautern to move into the top two

Elversberg ran out 3-1 winners away at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion this evening.

A chaotic end to the first half proved important, Leon Robinson’s red card, Lukas Petkov’s penalty and an unfortunate Maximilian Rohr own goal saw the sides level at the break, before David Mokwa’s first goal for Elversberg and a late Luca Schnellbacher finish sealed a huge three points for Vincent Wagner’s promotion-chasing side.

Both teams showed early intent in front of a raucous Betzenberg, with neither afraid to commit men forward. Kaiserslautern threatened first around the 20-minute mark when Paul Joly slid in to guide an effort onto the post, drawing groans from the home crowd who sensed a statement night under the lights. The hosts were dealt a major blow shortly before the interval, however, as top scorer Ivan Prtajin – only recently back from injury – was forced off with an ankle problem.

In the dying moments of the first half, Elversberg were awarded a penalty after Leon Robinson pulled down Rohr inside the area, an offence that also saw the defender shown a straight red card. Petkov kept his composure from the spot, calmly slotting into the bottom-right corner to hand the visitors the lead.

Remarkably, there was still time for another twist. Deep into added time, Naatan Skyttä’s shot was saved by Nicolas Kristof, only for the rebound to deflect cruelly off Rohr and into his own net, sending the sides in level at the break.

Elversberg emerged for the second half with renewed purpose and restored their advantage 11 minutes in. Tom Zimmerschied burst to the byline before cutting the ball back for Mokwa, who swept home confidently for his first Elversberg goal on just his third start.

Torsten Lieberknecht’s side attempted to wrestle back control in search of an equaliser, but being a man down severely limited their options. With Prtajin absent, hopeful balls into the box were the best the hosts could muster as Elversberg dictated the tempo and dominated possession.

The result was put beyond doubt in the 86th minute when Petkov won the ball high up the pitch and slipped in Luca Schnellbacher, who coolly finished past Julian Krahl to secure the points.

It was a significant victory for Elversberg, who made full use of their numerical advantage to climb into second place ahead of Darmstadt’s outing tomorrow. For Kaiserslautern, it was a bitter blow – missing the chance to close the gap on the top three and remaining in sixth.