Elversberg move to the top - "Nice party" with 4:1
Horst Steffen looked completely satisfied. After the strong 4:1 win over SC Paderborn, the head coach praised his professionals from SV Elversberg, who were promoted to the second division. "In the end, I'm very, very happy about this performance. And about the fact that we were able to celebrate a nice party at home with a great game. The people who were there are happy to come back and feel good that they are SVE fans," said Steffen, after his team had defied a 1-0 deficit on Saturday and deserved a clear win.
With 24 points, the Saarlanders are among the extended group of promotion contenders in the 2nd Bundesliga. Much higher ranked clubs such as Hertha BSC (18) and FC Schalke 04 (13) are currently no match for the newcomers from the soccer province. Only league leaders FC St. Pauli (30) seem to be clearly ahead at the moment, with Hamburger SV (27) lurking behind them.
Elversberg's match-winner was attacker Luca Schnellbacher, who turned the early deficit around with his two goals (41st minute/50th) shortly before and shortly after half-time. Schnellbacher was joined by Paul Stock (57) and Maurice Neubauer (60) in front of 8,126 spectators. The early opening goal from Sebastian Klaus (22) did not help Paderborn, who terminated the contract with former international Max Kruse this week.
"The 1:1 did us a lot of good. The activity was very good right from the start. In the second half, we started to enjoy playing. We finished off the counter-attacks with great effectiveness," analyzed Steffen after the win in front of the home crowd. The coach added that he had "rarely seen his team play so consistently and so strongly". Elversberg have games in Berlin, against 1. FC Nürnberg and at Karlsruher SC on the agenda before the winter break. The relegation battle could be over by Christmas with a few more wins.
In the Bundesliga 2, SV Elversberg's impressive performance against SC Paderborn was celebrated with a 4:1 victory, with Luca Schnellbacher scoring two crucial goals. Despite being in Bundesliga 2, Elversberg has shown they can compete with higher-ranked teams like Hertha BSC and FC Schalke 04.
Source: www.dpa.com
