MSV Duisburg lost 0:1 (0:0) at SC Verl on Sunday. It was the fourth winless game in a row.

Most recently, MSV Duisburg had fallen off the pace somewhat. After a good start, the Zebras only picked up one point from the last three games. And this negative run continued in the guest game at SC Verl on Sunday. The Zebras lost 0:1 after a poor performance and are now four points above the relegation places in twelfth place. Thanks to the win, Verl managed to jump above the line and is three points behind Duisburg in 16th place.

At the HomeDeluxe-Arena in Paderborn – where Verl currently play their home games – MSV coach Torsten Ziegner sent out a team that changed in two positions compared to the 0:1 against Dresden. Kolja Pusch came on for Aziz Bouhaddouz. Tobias Fleckstein replaced Sebastian Mai, who was suspended with a yellow card, in the back four.

After a brief feeling-out period, the first chance belonged to the hosts. Yari Otto shot from 20 metres out, but Vincent Müller made a spectacular save to save a corner. In contrast, MSV’s first signal was less of a sporting nature. Joshua Bitter was too late against Tom Baack and received a yellow card for his rough kick (17th).

Offensively, there was little from the guests. They left Verl with a lot of possession, but were so compact that the East Westphalians could only rarely show themselves in the dangerous areas. On the other side, captain Moritz Stoppelkamp created the first chances for a goal without causing much alarm with his finishes (27th, 32nd, 36th). There were no further highlights until the half-time whistle.

After a generally weak first half, Ziegner made some changes. At the break, attacker Bouhaddouz came on for Bitter, Marvin Ajani moved to the right side and Chinedu Ekene from the centre of attack to the wing.

But the game did not become more attractive. Significantly, there was a minute-long interruption because Marvin Bakalorz had injured his face. The veteran was able to continue playing – and had to watch his team fall behind.

Tobias Knost (57th) took advantage of the lack of order in the Duisburg penalty area. Ajani had lost the ball beforehand, Knost was served the ball by Joel Grodowski, who was not interrupted decisively enough by Jonas Michelbrink and scored from around 15 metres into the right corner.

A wake-up call for MSV? At least not noticeable, the Revierklub still failed to create any scoring threat. There was a glimmer of hope when Stoppelkamp took a free kick just outside the penalty area (75th). But the captain’s attempt landed in the wall. Little went right for the otherwise strong 35-year-old, whose performance was typical of Duisburg’s play.

In the closing minutes, the more than 1000 fans who had come along tried to whip their team to an equaliser with loud shouts. But more than a desperate attempt by Ekene to get a penalty was not possible for Duisburg on this rainy afternoon. On the contrary: Marvin Senger was shown a yellow card for a tactical foul (87th), thus aggravating the personnel problems.

Now it’s time for the international break, after which MSV will host Halleschen FC (Saturday, 1 October, 2 p.m.). Before that, however, the Ziegner team is still in action in the Lower Rhine Cup – next Friday (7 p.m.) it goes to Rot-Weiß Oberhausen. For Verl, the league action continues with an away match at SV Elversberg.