Fifth competitive win in a row – MSV Duisburg won 1-0 against 1. FC Düren on matchday 12 of the Regionalliga West and is now in the mix.

MSV Duisburg celebrated a 1-0 (0-0) home win against 1. FC Düren on matchday 12 of the Regionalliga West and is keeping in touch with the leaders. The only goal was scored by FCD defender Viktor Miftaraj, who put the ball into his own goal (47th minute).

In front of 13,087 spectators, the Zebras, after four competitive wins in a row, started with a lot of pressure against the guests from Düren, who played defensively with a five-man chain. In the 8th minute, MSV captain Alexander Hahn rose up after a corner and headed the ball just past the left post under pressure.

Shortly afterwards, Steffen Meuer had the chance to give Duisburg an early lead: Can Coskun crossed into the penalty area, where Gerrit Wegkamp missed, but a Düren defender played the ball right into Meuer’s feet. The striker missed miserably from eight meters (13th). Tobias Fleckstein missed another good opportunity after Coskun brought the ball to the first post. The defense chief shot well over the goal with his weaker left foot (32nd).

Before that, Düren had come seriously close for the first time in the form of Elsamed Ramaj, who hit the side netting with a volley (29th). The lead goal for Meiderich seemed only a matter of time, but the guests almost turned the game completely on its head: Rafael Garcia tried a volley from more than 20 meters, the ball dropped and hit the crossbar (43rd). A curious highlight of the first half: Marvin Höner, Dietmar Hirsch’s assistant coach, was shown the red card in the 40th minute after blocking a throw-in from Düren.

At half-time, Hirsch brought on striker Malek Fakhro for the unlucky Wegkamp – and saw a dream start to the second half. Meuer appeared in the penalty area after a one-two with Joshua Bitter and played the ball into the middle. FCD defender Viktor Miftaraj wanted to clear in front of Fakhro, but he unfortunately put the ball into his own net (47th) – a well-deserved lead for Duisburg.

Düren then tried to attack, but MSV remained stable in defense. In a very tough second half, there were not many goal-scoring opportunities on either side. In the 66th minute, Patrick Sussek took a shot from the edge of the box, and Düren’s goalkeeper Jannick Theißen was able to distinguish himself once again. MSV thus secured the next three points and achieved its fifth competitive win in a row.

MSV Duisburg will play an away game against the second team of 1. FC Köln on the next match day (October 25th, 7.30 p.m.). 1. FC Düren will face another top team, namely Sportfreunde Lotte (October 26th, 2 p.m.).