Fortuna Dusseldorf have taken the last step towards the class against Erzgebirge Aue. The Red and Whites won on the 34th match with 1: 0 (1: 0) and finished the season with 42 points on the eleventh place.
Gartner meet against Aue 1-0
The starting position before the last day was clear: Fortuna Düsseldorf and Erzgebirge Aue reached a point to keep the class safely. Coach Friedhelm Funkel stressed in the run-up that one would not be content to push the ball back and forth for 90 minutes.
“We want to win this game, because we have not won a win at home for a long time and because we want to give it to our fans,” the 63-year-old said, “There is no non-attack pact.” On Sunday afternoon, both teams did not fire a footballing fireworks display before 37,320 spectators, but Fortuna switched at least to the forward. Christian Gartner scored the goal of the day just before the break. “Now we can go on vacation,” said goalkeeper Michael Rensing.
Hook up, look forward
Funkel had to improvise against Aue, because on the left Lukas Schmitz (blocked) and Axel Bellinghausen (injured) were missing. He surprised by confiding to Anderson Lucoqui. The 19-year-old Eigengewachs had been on the pitch for a total of 45 minutes – in Berlin and against Dresden. Now he had to prove himself in a difficult situation.
Lucoqui defended with Robin Bormuth, Andre Hoffmann, Kaan Ayhan and Julian Schauerte. Adam Bodzek, Marcel Sobottka and Gartner played in the central midfield. Jerome Kiesewetter stormed with Rouwen Hennings.
Farewells, which usually belong to the last matchday, were not in the Esprit-Arena. The concentration was on the descent. And he began easy. Fortuna tried to control, had a slow game quickly under control. Aue pressed anything but aggressive, pulling himself deeply into the back of his own half.
The result: tough midfield combat. Sobottka tried to score a header after eleven minutes, but Aue goalkeeper Martin Mannel caught the ball effortlessly. If it was dangerous in the initial phase, then in front of the gate of the guests. After 18 minutes, Gartner failed with a lupfer.
Gartner scores a flat shot before the break
And what did Aue show? Surprisingly, quite little. In the Dusseldorf half, the “violets” hardly appeared at all. FC Erzgebirge, with new coach Domenico Tedesco over the past few weeks, had made a good start to the Red-Whites. Hoffmann missed a 1: 0 goal from a short distance. And Gartner punished the passivity with a flat-shot 1: 0 for Dusseldorf (40th). For the Austrian, whose contract expires, it was the second Saisontor.
The second round began with a clearing-up
The Fortuna fans had rolled paper rolls into the penalty area of the guests, referee Harm Osmers had to interrupt the game briefly. Afterwards, Aue danced a bit more, Pascal Köpke caused a change for the danger before the goal of Rensing.
But Fortuna was quickly back on the pace, Hennings urged Mannel with a free kick (63). Kiesewetter fled in a one-on-one at the guests’ keeper (74). In the end, it was the tight victory for Fortuna, both clubs playing next season in the second place. For the Red-Whites it was the first success for seven months.