1. FC Magdeburg saves point in Kaiserslautern while short-handed

A point for morale and willpower: Despite being outnumbered for almost an hour, 1. FC Magdeburg scored at 1. FC Kaiserslautern. In a hard-fought 2:2 (2:1), Samuel Loric (11th minute) and ex-Lauterer Philipp Hercher (13th) took an early lead before Boris Tomiak (32nd, penalty) and Ragnar Ache (68th) equalized in front of 45,104 spectators. Magdeburg ended the second division match with a double deficit after Falko Michel (35) and Martijn Kaars (90+3) were both shown yellow-red. FCM climbed to seventh in the table.

"I tried to prepare the boys a bit for what awaited us here," said Hercher, adding: "We had the game under control, then the penalty and the red card. Then it was really cool how we defended in front of 45,000 people here." FCM coach Christian Titz was annoyed by the referee's decisions. "It was a game-deciding scene today, it wasn't a penalty, I would have liked them to go out and look at the scene. When I see the sending off and the penalty, I'm disappointed. Nevertheless, the lads put everything in at the back."

Titz made three changes from the previous week's 3-0 defeat to Hannover. Loric and Michel made their starting XI debuts, while Alexander Nollenberger was also new to the starting line-up. Baris Atik was out of the squad due to ankle problems, as was Mohammed El Hankouri (knee).

Dream goal from Loric

After an even opening phase without any real chances, Magdeburg took the lead after a corner: Kaars hit the ball to the edge of the box, where Loric volleyed the ball into the goal. Just minutes later, Hercher latched onto a long ball from Marcus Mathisen and skilfully and cleverly increased the lead to 2:0. The hosts needed some time to recover, with Silas Gnaka clearing the first goal chance from Ache (19th) off the goal line.

It should have been 3-0 shortly afterwards, but Nollenberger (21) overlooked Gnaka in front of the empty goal and fired the ball well over. After Daisuke Yokota had escaped the FCM defense, Dominik Reimann parried the shot, but to the dismay of the Elbe city team, referee Florian Badstübner awarded a penalty. Michel touched Yokota from behind during the action and was shown a yellow card. Tomiak converted the spot-kick (32'). Shortly afterwards, Michel was sent off with a yellow card for holding (35).

Lautern were tireless

The hosts pressed for an equalizer with one man more before the break and that continued after the break. Magdeburg tried to make occasional pinpricks, but rarely succeeded against Lauter, who were full of pressure. On one of the rare counter-attacks, Kaars missed the potential 3:1, not hitting the ball properly (60').

So the equalizer was only a matter of time. After a corner, Ache headed the ball through the legs of FCM keeper Reimann from six meters (68'). FCM still had chances after that, but Kaars failed to score from a tight angle following a free-kick. Lautern continued to dominate the game. Ache alone failed to hit the aluminum three times. But FCM were rewarded with a point for their fighting commitment in a short-handed situation.