FSV Frankfurt vs. TSV Steinbach Haiger 1:1

The wait finally came to an end this Saturday: FSV Frankfurt kicked off the new season of the Regionalliga-Südwest soccer league with today's match against TSV Steinbach Haiger. Both teams fought against relegation last season, but nevertheless secured their place in the league and now faced each other on the first matchday. On today's first matchday, both teams wanted to give each other nothing from the start.

FSV went into the league opener with the same starting line-up as in the last preparation match against 1.FC Köln II. The visitors from the Lahn-Dill district played offensively from the opening minutes and put the Bornheim side under pressure early on, but the Black & Blues did not hide either and Jan-Erik Eichhorn delivered the first cross into the Steinbach penalty area in the third minute of the game, but goalkeeper Jesper Heim was quicker than FSV new signing Hassan Mourad and intercepted the ball. The game gradually gathered momentum in the opening quarter of an hour, with TSV more active in attack and more compact defensively in their own ranks. In the 17th minute, Steinbach's Serkan Firat got free in front of FSV's penalty area, grabbed the ball and shot past the right-hand post. FSV goalkeeper Justin Ospelt intercepted the ball in several actions and reflexively saved a shot from close range with his arm. TSV were moving continuously in the Frankfurt penalty area at this point, but the home defense had prevented them from conceding the first goal. After half an hour, Firat again received the ball in the penalty area, took the ball from the penalty spot and gave Steinbach the lead with the first goal in this duel. However, FSV did not let this get them down and looked more courageous, trying to attack more, but the red-clad Central Hessians were compact and defensively disciplined. Shortly before the end of the first half, Frankfurt attacked again and brought the ball into their opponents' penalty area from outside the box, but the passers-in, such as Timo Hildmann, were unable to find a taker, meaning Steinbach regained possession. The fans in the PSD Bank Arena still had to wait for a dangerous goal from Görner's side. Both teams went into the dressing room with FSV trailing

Both teams continued without a change of personnel, with Steinbach pushing to extend their lead immediately after the restart and putting the defense under pressure again. In the 50th minute, goalscorer Firat passed the ball flat from the right side of the pitch to Justin Steinkötter, who took the ball and shot straight at Justin Ospelt's goal, but FSV captain Tim Weißmann thwarted him and prevented the possible 0:2. After 15 minutes of the second half, Görner's team looked more courageous and determined than in the first half. In the 62nd minute, Hildmann again played a low cross into the Steinbach penalty area to Mourad, but he was unable to get to the ball and the visitors regained possession. After a foul by new signing Tobias Peitz, Firat put the ball into the home penalty area from the free-kick, but Ospelt was on hand to make the save. Lucas Hermes received the ball a few minutes later, moved towards the visitors' penalty area and decided to pass the ball on instead of shooting himself. There was no taker for this pass either and Steinbach launched the next counter-attack. The 1,266 spectators in the rainy PSD Bank Arena saw a heated final quarter of an hour. The ball by no means rested, FSV gave no quarter and pressed for the equalizer. In the 86th minute, it was Firat again, this time with a free-kick into the penalty area, but he posed no threat to Frankfurt. A few minutes later, in the 89th minute to be precise, substitute Malik Memisevic scored the deserved equalizer from an acute angle to make it 1:1. In the six minutes of stoppage time, neither team was satisfied with a point, both wanted to win their first game of the season. The game became more heated and escalated in the fourth minute of stoppage time after Steinbach's Christopher Wähling was shown a yellow card for an assault and FSV were outnumbered for the remaining minutes. A short time later, referee Kadir Yagci blew the final whistle and both Görner's side and head coach Daniel Wilde's team secured their first points of the afternoon.

FSV Frankfurt drew 1-1 with TSV Steinbach Haiger in an entertaining encounter to retain a point on the Bornheimer Hang. After today's “South Hesse-Central Hesse duel”, the Black & Blues will head straight to Offenbacher Kickers next Saturday, 03.08.2024, for the small Main derby. Kick-off is at 2 p.m. at the Bieberer Berg stadium.