A red card marked the decisive turnaround in 1. FC Magdeburg's last home game in the calendar year.

Cristiano Piccini was sent off, only then did league leaders Darmstadt dominate and secured the fall championship of the 2nd Bundesliga ahead of schedule.

In the end it was 0:1 (0:0) in front of 18,788 spectators.

Patric Pfeiffer (78th) scored the only goal of the game after a corner.

Despite the defeat, the FCM remains in 14th place in the table, one point ahead of the relegation place.

Magdeburg made a change after the win in Nuremberg: Herbert Bockhorn played for the suspended Leon Bell Bell, but swapped sides with Mohammed El Hankouri, playing on the right flank.

The guests were oriented offensively from the start, tried to get deals in a playful way, but gave the FCM space to counter.

Moritz Kwarteng (9th) set a first counterattack well over the goal.

In Darmstadt, Philipp Tietz (10th) aimed freely in front of the goal next to it.

Both teams hardly allowed themselves a break in late autumn temperatures, especially Connor Krempicki (13th/17th) repeatedly scored deals for FCM.

Magdeburg had worked out more game shares and taken control.

Darmstadt lurked more for the switching moment, but continued to press in the FCM half.

Opportunities for both sides

After 33 minutes, Darmstadt's Pfeiffer scored with a header, but was clearly offside in the situation.

Previously, Dominik Reimann had not been able to punch the corner kick away.

The game remained completely open until the break, leaders Darmstadt and fourteenth Magdeburg met at eye level.

Magdeburg had the majority of opportunities before the break, Darmstadt the clearer ones.

FCM coach Christian Titz made some changes during the break: Alexander Bittroff moved into central defence, Silas Gnaka took over as right-back for the retired Bockhorn, El Hankouri switched to the left flank.

While FCM was still in the discovery phase, Piccini (54th) saw a red card after a handball on the sideline of the penalty area for preventing a clear scoring opportunity. A controversial decision.

After that, the guests naturally had the game under control, but clear scoring chances were rare against the now deep Elbestadt team: Matthias Bader's (68th) shot was parried by Reimann.

Against ten Magdeburgers, Darmstadt needed a set piece to take the lead: Pfeiffer headed in from a corner.

Magdeburg tried again, but could not bring about a dangerous conclusion.