On the club's 72nd birthday: Dresden slip up against Osnabrück

Dynamo Dresden missed a decisive step in the promotion battle in the 3rd Football League. The league leaders lost 0:1 (0:0) against VfL Osnabrück on Saturday. The only goal of the day was scored by Joker Niklas Wiemann (88'). The setback in the thrilling promotion race was watched by 30,351 spectators at the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion.

Coach Thomas Stamm made five changes to his starting XI. Mika Baur, Aljaz Casar, Philip Heise, Stefan Kutschke and Robin Meißner started for Christoph Daferner, Niklas Hauptmann, Jakob Lemmer (all bench) as well as Vinko Sapina and Sascha Risch (5th yellow card each). The visitors also made four changes to their starting line-up.

Evenly matched and intense game

This did not detract from the flow of the game on either side. Both Kofi Amoako (13) for VfL and Dynamo's Dominik Kother (22) had good shots on goal. The game remained open for the remainder of the first half. Both teams engaged in an open and intense exchange of blows. Scoring opportunities were few and far between, with Kutschke (38) having the best chance with a header. The 36-year-old missed the goal by a few centimetres.

Both opponents began the second half without any personnel changes. While attacking actions were almost exclusively initiated by the hosts from then on, the visitors concentrated on defending with great passion. Numerous substitutions interrupted what was already a disjointed game. Kother (75) missed the best opportunity to secure a home win from close range, almost unchallenged. Wiemann provided the surprising final blow shortly before the final whistle.