Joy in Dresden, disappointment in Halle, frustration in Aue

Pure relief at Dynamo Dresden

The relief among all those who support Dynamo Dresden was palpable. In the catacombs of the Rudolf Harbig Stadium, the players could be seen grinning broadly and high-fiving each other once again, while supervisory board chairman Jens Heinig and Lord Mayor Dirk Hilbert demonstratively walked out of the stadium through the dressing room corridor past the media people. The 2:1 victory against 1860 Munich was a relief after the turbulent week with the dismissal of sporting director Ralf Becker and the ongoing sporting crisis. "A lot has happened. The boys now have to clear their heads," said coach Markus Anfang, who also hopes that the knot has burst.

At least Dynamo showed that they can play really good soccer in their own stadium. And since the next match against promotion hopefuls SSV Ulm is another home game, nobody needs to worry about how to bridge the gap between home and away performances. However, all the protagonists warned against overestimating the success against a very strong Lions side. "We didn't win the Champions League," said Lucas Cueto, who scored the winning goal. For captain and 1:0 goalscorer Stefan Kutschke, it was much more important that the team once again acted as a unit after the sometimes frightening performances in Aue and Halle and the massive criticism from the public. "The way the game was won, even at the back, shows that the core of the team is clean," said Kutschke, adding: "I take my hat off to the team's reaction."

Halle miss out on another surprise win

Played well, fought hard, but didn't get anything tangible. That's a brief summary of Halle FC's performance in the 0:1 draw at Preußen Münster. An unnecessary loss of possession, which led to a lightning-fast transition play by the hosts, sealed the defeat. And with it the fact that HFC cannot escape the bottom of the 3rd division table despite the two recent home victories. "There was more in it for us than this bitter defeat. But you saw again what kind of team is on the pitch here and how it fights," said coach Sreto Ristic on "MagentaSport".

In fact, the team from Halle were on a par against an opponent that has set its sights on promotion to Bundesliga 2 after its fifth win in a row. They were just a moment too careless and too ineffective in attack. A header from Dominic Baumann landed on the crossbar, and the decisive balls were played too imprecisely in the strong final offensive. "We also had our moments up front time and again. But then we didn't play it cleanly to the end," said Ristic. The next home game on Saturday against the resurgent bottom team SC Freiburg II will be an indication of where HFC's journey will take them this spring.

Aue squander their promotion dreams

That was probably it for FC Erzgebirge Aue's promotion dreams. An anemic performance led to a 2-0 defeat at 1. FC Saarbrücken. "We completely slept through the first half, were emotionless and had very poor body language," scolded coach Pavel Dotchev on ARD. The 2-0 deficit at the break was the logical consequence. In a slightly better second half, they lacked the assertiveness to perhaps come back after scoring the final goal.

Dotchev has put the issue of promotion behind him. "The way we played in the first half, we played like a relegated team. And we still need points to secure our place in the league. So I'd rather look down than dream upwards and lie to myself," said the coach on "MagentaSport". There are still many screws that need to be turned. The current 14-point lead over a relegation place ahead of the last nine games is no cushion for him.