Vermeij on the spot for once: Dynamo pick up important points

There was a deafening roar of relief in the stadium, the reserves and players not in the squad stormed onto the pitch: the final whistle was like a cup victory for Dynamo Dresden. The 1:0 win against 1. FC Kaiserslautern opened the door wide to staying in the league, especially as the competition was playing along. Dresden didn't have many chances, but the one they did have was taken by Vincent Vermeij (68).

"I only had two chances in the whole game. I'm all the happier that I scored the one goal. As a striker, you dream of scoring the decisive goal before every game," said Vermeij after his ninth goal of the season. Coach Thomas Stamm praised the greed of the defenders in close defense. "The team rewarded themselves in a game that was very even, like every week."

The Dynamo coach had to make a change shortly before the start of the game. Friedrich Müller came into central defense for Julian Pauli, who was suffering from muscular problems. Otherwise, the coach's regular line-up was used.

Dynamo the more active team

The team took the initiative more and more after ten minutes, but possibly due to the early summer temperatures did not seem as fresh mentally. As a result, little went right in attack. Niklas Hauptmann (13') and Ben Bobzien (38') had chances, but Lautern goalkeeper Julian Krahl was on the ball, while Robert Wagner (15') aimed a little too high with his long-range shot. That was all there was to it in a first half lacking in highlights.

Also because the visitors did not really get involved in the attacking play. Instead, coach Torsten Lieberknecht's team, who were short of substitutes due to a large number of absentees, focused on protecting their own goal. In fact, they conceded very little. Maxwell Gyamfi in particular proved to be a tower of strength in the center of defence, defending strongly against Vincent Vermeij, repeatedly closing gaps with quick tackles and always being on hand to deal with Thomas Keller from set-pieces.

Dynamo deserved their success

The picture was similar after the break, although the Palatinate side were no longer quite so deep. Dynamo tried to play, but lacked speed and ideas. It was only when Bobzien, Hauptmann, Jason Ceka and later Jakob Lemmer went into long dribbles that the Lauter defence was presented with problems.

The goal, which came after a throw-in by the visitors, drew the visitors out of their defensive shell more. The defensive players were now more challenged. However, you could see from the body language that the team was determined to see out the victory. "The win was extremely important. We kept a clean sheet, that was important," said Thomas Wagner, who was the most noticeable Dresden player in defensive midfield.

Next weekend, Dynamo can avoid direct relegation in Braunschweig. Four points separate the Saxons from Eintracht. "That will be another nasty game," said Hannover loanee Jonas Sterner.