MSV Duisburg was satisfied with the scoreless draw in Osnabrück. Dietmar Hirsch also spoke about the competition for spots in the forward line.

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

“Osnabrück was very dominant, especially in the second half, and had some good counterattacks,” summarized Dietmar Hirsch. But the coach also knew: Their play with the ball left room for improvement over the weekend. In 90 minutes, the visitors had only one real scoring chance, courtesy of Conor Noß. “We still 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, the MSV should have been awarded what Hirsch called a “crystal-clear penalty” just before the halftime whistle. “If that goes in, the game would have gone differently. In the second half, we didn’t have much control anymore. It turned into a physical battle on the difficult-to-play field. We played too many long balls; our strikers up front had problems.”

Patrick Sussek was surprisingly just a spectator until he came on as a substitute in the 62nd minute. Duisburg’s top scorer has recently lacked not only energy but also the necessary cutting edge up front, Hirsch explained when asked. As a result, Symalla, Noß, and Christian Viet had the edge in the attacking trio.

And things aren’t going smoothly for Tim Heike in the white-and-blue jersey these days either. For the third time in a row, the forward failed to 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 a regular starter until the end of September and is still without a goal, will have to remain 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 once again made his presence felt in training and isn’t letting it get him down. It’s clear he’s unhappy, but he’s handling it well and showed in Cottbus that he can score goals.”