MSV Duisburg defeated SC Verl and is now in second place in the 3rd division. MSV was clinical in front of goal, while Verl was unable to capitalize on its dominance on the field. At the end of the third division match day, MSV Duisburg faced SC Verl. Hansa Rostock and Rot-Weiss Essen were unable to win, and Energie Cottbus also only picked up one point over the weekend. Verl could even have taken the top spot in the table with three points. After 90 minutes, MSV celebrated a 4-1 (3-1) home win in front of 20,327 spectators and is now back in a direct promotion spot.

MSV coach Dietmar Hirsch made four changes to the starting lineup compared to the 0-1 defeat in Ulm: Captain Hahn, who was suspended due to yellow cards, was replaced by Ben Schlicke, Gabriel Sadlek was not in the squad, and Can Coskun moved back to the left in the back four after his yellow card suspension. Jan-Simon Symalla and Dennis Borkowski also moved into the starting lineup for Jesse Tugbenyo and Cono Noß. And the four newcomers got off to a flying start. After Verls’ Berkan Taz lost the ball twice, Lex-Tyger Lobinger scored the 1-0 for MSV in the second minute.
The joy lasted less than two minutes, as the score was already 1-1. It was Oualid Mhamdi who brought the game back to level terms after four minutes. Verl was on the front foot after the 1-1 and completely dominated the game. After a quarter of an hour, they were almost rewarded with the lead.

Taz passed to Dennis Waidner, whose low cross was deflected behind for a corner by Joshua Bitter in desperation, with a Verler player ready to shoot behind him.

MSV survived the visitors’ period of pressure and counterattacked brilliantly. First, it was Borkowski who surprisingly made it 2-1 for MSV. He put the “Zebras” in the lead after good work from Symalla. Shortly afterwards, the game was over for Borkowski, who had only just worked his way back from a long-term injury. Before the break, he had to leave the field, supported by the coaching staff. But that wasn’t all in the first half. Shortly before the half-time whistle, Lobinger scored his second goal to make it 3-1 for MSV at the break, which was unexpected given the course of the game. And the action continued after the break. On his 25th birthday, it was Patrick Sussek who sealed the deal early on in this top match with the 4-1 goal.

MSV were extremely efficient, scoring with four of their five shots on goal. Verl, on the other hand, were miserable at converting their chances. Niko Kijewski also missed for SCV after 57 minutes, which should have been the equalizer. After 65 minutes, Alessio Besio hit the post, but it wasn’t to be for Verl.

Nevertheless, the visitors kept at it. Their efforts were rewarded when Julian Stark took advantage of one of Verl’s many chances to reduce the deficit to 2-4 (74′). Four minutes later, the visitors almost got back into the game, but Jonas Arweiler’s shot was saved by the woodwork for the second time for MSV.

MSV then played out the game confidently and can now celebrate being back in second place. MSV’s next game is on Saturday (February 14, 2 p.m.) at SV Wehen Wiesbaden. SC Verl will face TSG Hoffenheim’s U23 team at the same time.