Bundesliga: Bochum lost important points in the relegation battle against Darmstadt

Enlarge image

Bochum's Takuma Asano (l.) against Darmstadt's Thomas Isherwood

Photo: Lars Baron / Getty Images

At the end of the 27th matchday of the Bundesliga, VfL Bochum and SV Darmstadt 98 drew 2:2 (1:0). Philipp Hofmann put VfL in the lead with a brace (30th minute/48th), Tim Skarke (62nd) and Oscar Vilhelmsson (76th) ensured the Darmstadt comeback.

Nevertheless, Darmstadt remains bottom of the table and five points behind 1. FC Köln, who also drew on Sunday afternoon. Bochum remains in 15th place and is six points ahead of relegation place 16, which Mainz 05 holds.

In Bochum it was raining heavily at kick-off. And even FC Bayern knows how difficult it is to survive under floodlights in the wet Ruhr Stadium. Bochum's win against the record champions in February was followed by the separation from coach Thomas Tuchel. However, since the surprise success, VfL has not been able to win again. VfL also had to accept a supposed setback at the start against Darmstadt: Tim Skarke scored to make it 1-0, but Vilhelmsson, who provided the assist, had previously been offside (3rd).

The hosts then controlled the game. Patrick Osterhage (19th) and Christopher Antwi-Adjei (27th) had shots before Hofmann took the deserved lead. After a corner kick, he first failed with his header from a few meters and then poked the ball into the goal with the tip of his foot (30th).

Shortly after the break, Hofmann was there again: Hofmann nodded a cross from Keven Schlotterbeck into the far corner in the penalty area (48). In his 100th competitive game as Darmstadt coach, Torsten Lieberknecht saw a largely harmless performance from his team. The Lilies seemed rattled by the second goal they conceded. Darmstadt's first approach to goal in the second half was a powerful long-range shot from Mathias Honsak, which narrowly missed the goal (56').

Darmstadt punished the Bochum team

A little later, Antwi-Adjei missed the preliminary decision - and in return the guests struck. Julian Justvan sent striker Skarke on his way with a wonderful pass through a gap in the Bochum defense. He shot through the legs of his opponent from 16 meters and the ball landed in the right corner (62).

The game was now more balanced. Bochum again missed a great chance and were promptly punished: Vilhelmsson was served in the penalty area, took the ball perfectly and drove it towards Manuel Riemann. The VfL keeper didn't react quickly enough and the ball bounced from his hands into the net to make the final score 2-2 (76').

mlb