A good effort by WSV in the Saarland, against the championship contenders. Some 70 Wuppis made the trip, and they did not go home disappointed. WSV fought to the end, against a team that desperately needed a win to continue to challenge for the title. In the end, they were rewarded with a point, and perhaps things are turning around on the field, as financials remain somewhat chaotic.
WSV came out strong, catching the hosts off guard, and controlling the first 15 minutes. After 7 minutes, Vlatko Glavas broke thru and fired a long, hard shot that forced Homburg's keeper Eich to make a good save.
After half an hour, Homburg began to take charge of the match. The signal was a close shot by Muschinka over the bar, after taking a pass from Eduard Sarpei. In the 25th minute, Homburg had a huge chance. Arveladze, who had an excellent game, put in a corner that allowed Diane a free header on goal. However, goalkeeper Ogrinc and Christian Broos combined to save at the line. Although Homburg should have been thrown off kilter by two early injuries to Eichmann and Stanic, forcing their replacement by Diouf and Wruck, the Saarlaenders kept up the pressure. In the 37th minute, Arveladze passed over on to the left to Mouyemme , whose cross found Gatti alone in the middle. However, his shot was crap, and the score remained 0-0. Only one minute later, Sarpei broke through and was in 1-on-1 against Ogrinc, the WSV's keeper stopped him cold. In the 41st minute, another nice Homburg play, as Arveladze centered the ball to Mouyemme, who trapped the ball on his chest, and then volleyed direct, missing only by a few inches.
Then came the shock, only seconds before the halftime whistle. Sven Steup, who had scored against Homburg back in the Zoo-Stadion, advanced the ball into Homburg space some 30 meters from the goal. He easily faked Bernd Dudek out of his jock strap, and raced towards the penalty box. As none of the defenders challenged him, he continued on and blasted a low shot past Eich from only 8 meters, putting WSV in the lead 1-0!
The 2nd half saw Homburg rocket out quickly. They were finally rewarded after 54 minutes, as Muschinka crossed to Mouyemme. His shot was saved by Ogrinc, but Arveladze was there for the rebound and the score was even. From this point on, Homburg continued to attack, but WSV's defense held firm. The biggest Homburg chance was only 3 minutes later, as Sarpei's cross bounced off a WSV defender an off the post.
After Homburg's Wruck got yellow/red in the 72. minute, Homburg had their last decent chance, as Muschinka shot hard from Arveladze's free kick.
After the match, coach Gores praised the hosts, stating that "Homburg is one of the best technical teams in the league, with tremendous talent. But sometimes they are not quite in synch, and we wanted to piss them off a bit."
A deserved point for WSV, because of their fighting effort. Oddly enough, this game was almost a mirror image of the match at the Zoo Stadion, only there it was Homburg on the defensive. Besides, Homburg don't deserve to be promoted, as less than 2,000 fans showed up to root for a club that is struggling to gain promotion.
Standings after Round 23