1. FC Magdeburg holds SC Paderborn to a 0-0 draw while short-handed

1. FC Magdeburg failed to build on their home win against Schalke 04 and extend the gap to the relegation places. In front of 13,566 spectators, Magdeburg drew 0-0 at SC Paderborn on Sunday, but had to play the final phase of the game short-handed after Luca Schuler was shown a red card (79').

Coach Christian Titz fielded the same starting XI that had beaten Schalke 04 so impressively the previous week. Jean Hugonet took a place on the bench following his red ban. Paderborn started aggressively against the visitors from the Elbe region, shutting down Magdeburg's build-up players early on and preventing the FCM from developing. Magdeburg were able to break free for the first time after five minutes, but Tatsuya Ito was unable to deal with the newly-captured ball properly (6') and would otherwise have found himself free in front of goalkeeper Pelle Boevink. Paderborn were particularly dangerous from set-pieces and had two great chances after a corner kick (12'), but the FCM defense was able to clear.

The hosts then withdrew further and Magdeburg began to look for gaps in the Paderborn defense - but apart from half-chances, mostly prepared by the dribbling Ito, nothing came of it. Magdeburg's attacks often petered out in midfield and there was hardly any way through on the wings. As Paderborn also produced hardly any finishes from their defensive position, it remained a rather unsightly and goalless draw at the break.

After the break, the game had its first excitement: Daniel Heber put Paderborn's Filip Bilbija in the box, but the attacker had previously been just offside - luck for FCM (48'). The picture from the first half was repeated in the period that followed: Paderborn initially aggressive and dangerous from set-pieces, Magdeburg without any real ideas or chances in the penalty area. A shot from Mohammed El Hankouri (57') was parried by Boevink, the subsequent corner yielded nothing.

A shot from substitute Adriano Grimaldi (67') was parried by Dominik Reimann in the FCM goal, but the scene was the prelude to a short Paderborn pressure phase, which, however, also yielded nothing countable. There was sheer horror on the Magdeburg bench when referee Nicolai Winter showed the red card (79') after a tackle by Schuler - and stuck to his decision even after viewing the video footage. A wrong decision. Magdeburg survived the remaining quarter of an hour, including almost nine minutes of stoppage time, unscathed and went two games in a row without conceding a goal.