MSV Duisburg was happy with the scoreless draw in Osnabrück. Dietmar Hirsch also spoke about the competitive situation in the attack.

MSV Duisburg lacked ideas going forward on Saturday at the sold-out Bremer Brücke. That wasn’t the only reason why everyone involved spoke of a “point won” after the 0-0 draw at VfL Osnabrück, unlike after the RWE derby.

“Osnabrück was very dominant, especially in the second half, and had some good moments of transition,” summarized Dietmar Hirsch. But the coach also knew that the team’s ball skills could have been better over the weekend. In 90 minutes, the visitors only had one real chance to score through Conor Noß. “Nevertheless, we played courageous soccer and defended with a lot of passion,” praised the 53-year-old. Particularly bitter: after a foul on Jan-Simon Symalla, who had to leave the field injured shortly before the end, MSV should have been awarded a “crystal-clear penalty” shortly before the half-time whistle, according to Hirsch. “If that had gone in, the game would have been different. In the second half, we didn’t have much control. It became a battle on a difficult pitch. We played too many long balls, and our strikers up front had problems.”

Surprisingly, Patrick Sussek was only a spectator until he came on as a substitute in the 62nd minute. When asked, Hirsch explained that Duisburg’s top scorer had recently lacked not only energy but also the necessary punch up front. Symalla, Noß, and Christian Viet had the edge in the offensive trio. And things aren’t going well for Tim Heike in the white and blue jersey these days either. For the third time in a row, the striker did not make the squad. In Osnabrück, Dutchman Andy Visser even made his second appearance of the season, but like Florian Krüger, he was ineffective up front. Heike, who was still a regular at the end of September and is still without a goal, will have to continue to be patient. Hirsch: “When you have four center forwards and can only take three, that’s a luxury. But nothing is set in stone. Tim has made a name for himself in training again and is not giving up. It’s clear that he’s unhappy, but he’s behaving well and showed in Cottbus that he can score goals.”