After the game, Tim Rieder said a sentence that must have resonated with many fans on Saturday afternoon: “It was boiling inside me.” The 30-year-old has played in defensive midfield for nine games but has received four yellow cards, and of course he really wants to be there next Friday at Dynamo Dresden. So it happened that in the 64th minute of the game he somehow controlled himself and left the lid on the pot.
But it was difficult for him. Rieder had been fouled seconds earlier, was lying on the ground and was unable to prevent a counterattack. His teammate Marlon Fey then did so illegally and received a red card. At this point, TSV 1860 Munich had the upper hand in an intense game, but now had to concentrate on defending. That in turn seemed to be successful, the fans were already celebrating a hard-fought 0-0, but then the series of eight games without defeat under coach Argirios Giannikis was broken: In the third minute of stoppage time, Lucas Röser headed the win from a corner SSV Ulm – he had been substituted on two minutes earlier.
“We defended everything with ten men, we threw ourselves at the balls, and then you lose with a stupid goal like that,” said Rieder, seething with anger. The spark from this game spread to the stands, and there was a lot of excitement there too. But after the guests’ 1-0 lead, it became quiet in the west curve, the Ulm supporters went crazy with joy – and even celebrated their jump to second place in the third league after the final whistle.
So sixty under Giannikis is still beatable. But, and this is what Captain Jesper Verlaat said afterwards, “a lot has to come together.” The in-form Max Reinthaler and Julian Guttau were missing injured and ill, and right-back Kilian Ludewig vomited seconds before the game, so Giannikis had to make another change. Then there was another contentious scene very early on.
For the Lions fans in the really full stands this time, the referee became the bogeyman in the 18th minute: Captain Jesper Verlaat had headed into the goal after a corner, but the referee Tom Bauer whistled the scene back because of an alleged foul by Mansour Ouro-Tagba . “Mansour said it wasn’t a foul,” Rieder said afterwards, “he was our blocker and got in the way, as happens in football.” Coach Giannikis also showed little understanding for the whistle: “It’s normal in the penalty area, the Ulm players do that too,” he said.
Coach Giannikis relies on speed – he has sprinters like Abdenego Nankishi
The second huge chance of the sixties showed why Giannikis likes to rely on speed on offense: After a precise, long ball, Abdenego Nankishi left two opponents behind in a sprint, but failed in a one-on-one with Ulm’s goalkeeper Christian Ortag ( 25.). Giannikis also relies on speed in defense, and this time he had a lot to improvise because Ludewig was replaced at short notice by Kilian Kurt. When Kurt was substituted as a precaution after a yellow card and another foul after just 29 minutes, Giannikis chose speed over positional loyalty: left-back Fabian Greilinger now gave way to the right-back. He did a good job and threw himself particularly passionately towards the end.
The red card for Marlon Frey could also have been punished as a tactical foul with a yellow card – that’s what the injured Max Reinthaler saw in the press box, for example. But Giannikis, who was already a calming force in the turbulent atmosphere in the Grünwald stadium, found Frey’s action unnecessary and the referee’s decision justifiable. “It wasn’t actually necessary to start like that; we would have been in the majority in a possible counterattack situation.
With a win against the newcomer, who is preparing to be promoted again, a top place in the table would not have been far away for the sixties. Next Friday there will be another opportunity to get closer, in the game against the weak promotion hopefuls Dresden. Captain Verlaat says his chest is still very broad after the game.