1. FC Heidenheim were well beaten by champions Arminia Bielefeld on the 2. Bundesliga’s final day but a spectacular collapse from Hamburger SV ensured they still finished third.
Fabian Klos, Andreas Voglsammer and Jonathan Clauss scored for the hosts as they ended the season on a high, with Heidenheim rarely threatening.
However Hamburg were beaten 5-1 by SV Sandhausen, meaning Heidenheim will play Werder Bremen for a place in the Bundesliga.
Heidenheim poor but it doesn’t matter
They didn’t secure third through their own efforts here. They were thoroughly second best and outclassed by the champions. They will have work to do before travelling to the Weserstadion – where they were beaten 4-1 in the DFB-Pokal earlier in the season – if they are to give Bremen, free-scoring yesterday, a serious challenge.
How much the players on the pitch were aware of events in Hamburg is unclear, but they appeared dejected when the final whistle went. Robert Strauß – not in squad here – was keeping a close eye on things from the stands though.
For HSV, it was the ultimate bottle job and then some, as Dieter Hecking’s side capitulated at the Volksparkstadion. Kevin Behrens scored twice for Sandhausen, following a Rick van Drongolen, although Hamburg had pulled back to 2-1 through an Aaron Hunt penalty.
They collapsed in the final stages, Mario Engels getting a fourth before, in the ultimate embarrassment, Dennis Diekmeier, who had gone nearly a decade without scoring until breaking his duck against Wehen Wiesbaden recently, added the fifth in stoppage time.
Bielefeld race ahead
Despite some suggesting they could go easy here, Uwe Neuhaus named a full-strength team with no changes from the 3-3 draw with Karlsruher SC last week. Konstantin Kerschbaumer, the hero from last week’s win over Hamburg, joined Denis Thomalla back in the Heidenheim side, with Robert Leipertz and Tobias Mohr dropping to the bench, where Marc Schnatterer also remained.
After a quiet opening ten minutes, Voglsammer had a couple of chances to break the deadlock and Kevin Müller was lucky one didn’t go in after rebounding off the post and his feet before going for a corner. Unfortunately for Heidenheim, that corner led to the first goal. It was unclear if it was headed in by a diving Klos or if it came off an unfortunate Tim Kleindinest. Officially, it has gone down as Klos’s 21st of the season, confirming him as the league’s top scorer.
By that point, Sandhausen were ahead in Hamburg, so Heidenheim were still third as it stood, but it soon got worse for them. Marcel Hartel’s sideways ball found Volgsammer who, coming forward, put it onto his right foot before a lovely strike left Müller well beaten.
A second goal had gone in in Hamburg but Heidenheim were struggling. Kleindinest had a chance to redeem himself between the goals but was denied by a perfectly-timed Amos Pieper challenge. Later on, he headed in from a free-kick but went a fraction too soon and it was disallowed. Stefan Ortega was only really tested when Timo Beermann made a fair connection to another set piece, but it was straight at the Bielefeld keeper.
The hosts had a few further chances to extend their lead before the break, with Hartel coming closest after being found by Klos, but it was an easy take for Müller. Klos had a good from distance as well, but couldn’t find the target.
No coming back
Frank Schmidt hadn’t been happy with his team’s first half performance, and responded with a triple change at the break, with Norman Theuerkauf, Leipertz and Schnatterer coming on, seemingly switching to 4-4-2. They started the second 45 pretty well, but it didn’t long for long as a superb Klos through ball to unpick their defence. Clauss ran onto it and, in his last game for the club, slotted past Müller for the third.
There was no coming back from here for Heidenheim. Anderson Lucoqui had an effort saved before Bielefeld thought they had conceded a fourth, a spectacular effort from Hartel, however he had been stood offside when Voglsammer had wrestled the ball off Patrick Mainka. This happened after Hunt got his goal back for Hamburg.
Bielefeld refused to switch off even as their thoughts may have been turning to the trophy presentation. Ortega showed bravery to grab a ball from the feet of Sebastian Griesbeck, whilst substitute Cebio Soukou hit the post after another excellent ball from Klos. Müller then denied Manuel Prietl with a spectacular save as the minutes ticked down.
The full-time whistle went soon after, with news from elsewhere likely coming through soon after, with Hamburg having conceded three times in the final ten minutes. For the hosts though, it was party time, albeit in socially-distanced fashion, unceremoniously collecting their medals before Klos lifted the trophy in front of his team mates. For Heidenheim, two more games now follow.
Bielefeld: Ortega; Brunner, Pieper (Salger 87‘), Behrendt, Lucoqui (Hartherz 80‘); Prietl, Seufert (Schütz 65‘), Hartel; Clauss (Soukou 65‘), Klos, Voglsammer (Weihrauch 80‘).
Heidenheim: Müller; Busch, Mainka, Beermann, Föhrenbach (Theuerkauf HT); Dorsch, Griesbeck, Kerschbaumer (Schnatterer HT), Otto (Schimmer 59‘); Kleindinest (Leipertz HT), Thomalla (Mohr 78‘).
Goals: Klos (14‘), Voglsammer (17‘), Clauss (53‘).
Referee: Manuel Gräfe.
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