A late goal from Simon Makienok breathed new life into Dynamo Dresden’s fight against 2. Bundesliga relegation, sealing a 3-2 win over SV Wehen Wiesbaden.
After Domnik Franke’s own goal put Dresden ahead, Wiesbaden raced ahead with goals from Daniel-Kofi Kyereh and Moritz Kuhn, and should have scored at least once more in the first half before Patrick Schmidt equalised against the run of play.
Wiesbaden missed more great chances in the second half, with Makienok’s decider coming just a few minutes from time to leave Dresden just three points off the play-off spot.
Makienok the hero – but the game should have been gone
Makienok will take the plaudits but until the final throws he had had a very disappointing game, and it would have been all too easy for Markus Kauczinski to take him off with Alexander Jeremejeff available on the bench. He kept faith with Makienok, and that faith was rewarded, with one of his two late efforts providing the winner.
That Dresden had the chance to win it late on was a wonder in itself. Their defence was all at sea in the first half and Wiesbaden should have at least had a third after Kyereh and Kuhn’s two quick-fire efforts. Jannis Nikoalou had been moved into midfield for this game and both Kevin Ehlers and Florian Ballas made major errors, although the latter wasn’t punished by Kyereh, who had benefited from the first.
In the second half, they largely had Kevin Broll to thank, with three important saves, although the offside flag would have also come to their rescue on two of those occasions. Their goalkeeper kept them in the game, and Makienok, eventually, did the rest. “Simon proved what a goalscorer he is,” said Kauczinski after the match.
Wiesbaden coach Rüdiger Rehm admitted that the defeat was “extremely disappointing” and the result was “catastrophic” for them. It has to be said that if they were unable to win this game, which was handed on a plate to them, then what hope do they have in their remaining four fixtures.
Wiesbaden fail to punish shambolic Dresden
Dresden initially looked more switched on than they had against Hannover 96 in midweek, from which they made eight changes, mostly restoring the team that played VfB Stuttgart last week, and they made the most of this good opening spell. Chris Löwe and Godsway Donyoh combined on the left, with Kuhn, brought in at the last-minute after an injury to Jeremias Lorch, caught in between them. Donyoh’s cross was put into his own net by Franke.
Wehen regrouped, with Löwe’s intervention keeping a Stefan Aigner header off target, but the equaliser was a gift. Ehlers was easily dispossessed by Manuel Schäffler. He found Kyereh, who found a gap in the box and scored. He marked the goal by taking a knee in honour of George Floyd.
The goal sent Dresden into defensive meltdown. Kevin Broll, usually so reliable, couldn’t properly clear a Schäffler effort, with the ball landing at Kuhn. The man who hadn’t been meant to start scored, but Broll should really have kept the effort out. It was then nearly three. Ballas gave the ball away in his own box to Aigner, but Kyereh struck wide.
Dresden were defensively all over the place, the game increasingly reminiscent of Wiesbaden’s victory over VfL Osnabrück before the season was paused. Kauczinski’s side were lucky that Marcel Titsch Rivero couldn’t let fly when in a perfect position in the box, or that Sascha Mockenhaupt struck another good effort wide. Those were only the two best efforts as Wiesbaden piled on the pressure.
Then, out of nowhere, Dresden equalised. Löwe’s cross found Schmidt, who despite having Mockenhaupt and Franke right on him was able to head firmly past Heinz Lindner. Somehow, they were level at the break.
Dresden tightened up and Makienok comes to the party
Kauczinski noticed how unstable his defence had become with Nikolaou pushed into midfield. He responded at the break by pushing him into a back three, and the move provided the desired stability. Wiesbaden remained marginally on top but found it much harder to create chances. Ehlers made up for mistake in the first half with a superb interception of a ball from Schäffler meant for Tobias Schwede.
The game was more tactical with less glaring errors, but eventually the hosts came closest to breaking the deadlock. Twice, Aigner set up substitute Maximilian Dittgen for big chances in the box, but twice he was denied by Broll. The first would have been offside, but Wiesbaden were sensing blood. Kyereh was the next to test the Dresden goalkeeper, but again Broll kept his side level.
With five minutes left, Makienok came into the game. His first contribution was connecting with a Marco Terrazzino cross, only for it to be saved by Lindner. Shortly after though, a ball from Nikolaou was headed on by Schmidt, finding Makienok. He shook off the attention of Franke, and slotted home to give Dresden the lead.
There was one final act, with Schmidt sent off for a second bookable offence, but the consequences of that will only be felt when he misses the game against SpVgg Greuther Fürth on Tuesday. But for now Dresden have new hope in their battle against relegation.
They are still bottom but have six games to go, with Karlsruhe in their sights. Wiesbaden are a point better off but only have 12 left to play for. Time for them is running out, especially after lacking any kind of ruthlessness here.
Wiesbaden: Lindner; Mockenhaupt, Dams, Franke (Tietz 89‘); Kuhn (Knöll 88‘), Chato, Schwede; Aigner (Ajani 85‘), Titsch Rivero (Dittgen 68‘), Schäffler, Kyereh.
Dresden: Broll; Wahlqvist, Ballas, Ehlers, C. Löwe; Nikoaou, Petrák; Schmidt, Klingenburg (Müller 64‘), Donyoh (Terrazzino 71‘); Makienok.
Goals: Kyereh (23‘), Kuhn (26‘); Franke (9‘ OG), Schmidt (44‘), Makienok (88‘).
Referee: Benedikt Kempkes.
Elsewhere on Saturday
Arminia Bielefeld’s promotion push hit a glitch as they were held by struggling 1. FC Nürnberg. Fabian Klos had given the leaders an early advantage but Patrick Erras equalised shortly before half time. Fabian Schleusener missed two good second half chances to win it for Der Club.
SSV Jahn Regensburg ended a run of seven games without victory with a 3-0 win over SV Darmstadt 98, whose promotion hopes are all but over. Marcel Correia and Max Besuschkow struck before Tobias Kempe missed a penalty for the Lilies. Erik Wekesser was sent off for Regensburg but Jann George then made the game safe.
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