There was no reason to celebrate. Pavel Dotchev traveled back to the Erzgebirge frustrated and annoyed on his anniversary. "We lost a game that we should never lose," said the FC Erzgebirge Aue coach, who played his 333rd third division game, after the 0:1 (0:1) at SV Sandhausen on Wednesday evening. The Veilchen thus missed out on the leap into the top flight of the 3rd division and slipped to eleventh place. "We didn't manage to score a goal, I was satisfied with the team's performance and attitude, that's what counts," said Dotchev on TV channel Magentasport, adding: "The opponents were very deep and kept counter-attacking. It wasn't easy for us to impose ourselves playfully."
The early penalty conceded by Alexander Mühling (31st minute) made it even more difficult. "It wasn't one for me," said Dotchev about the penalty. Aue keeper Martin Männel (33') prevented the 0:2 with a brilliant save against Markus Pink. After the changeover, Mirnes Pepic (49') had a good chance to shoot from seven meters, but Felix Göttlicher was able to block at the last moment. Aue suddenly applied more pressure. Pepic (61) then took a shot from the left half of the penalty area, but Sandhausen goalkeeper Nikolai Rehnen made the same save as he did from Marvin Stefaniak's free-kick in the 69th minute. At the other end, Männel shone with a foot save against Pink (75'), then with a volley against Sebastian Stolze (85')
