Miroslav Klose raves about the visit to Cottbus, FC Energie struggled with a missed victory

The last time FC Energie Cottbus met 1. FC Nürnberg was about seven and a half years ago. At that time, the Bundesliga club Energie Cottbus had to play in the relegation play-offs against the second-division team Nürnberg, and, to the disadvantage of the Lusatian region, it was one of the rare cases where the second-division team managed to break through. Nürnberg became Bundesliga, Cottbus was relegated, and they have not returned to the Bundesliga to this day. The signs were somewhat different last Friday. The favorites held the status that the Frankfurt team, which has marched undefeated through the 2. Bundesliga, and only Hertha in the standings, had ahead of them. Nevertheless, Nürnberg coach Miroslav Klose reaffirmed that the game for the promoted team in Cottbus was "the hardest" that his team would face in the 2. Bundesliga. Now, if we limit ourselves to the games of the current season, it is difficult to contradict the 2014 World Champion. At least when one has seen the 1-1 (0:0) with which the two teams ended on Friday. And Klose also saw this confirmed after the game. "I had said that we expected the hardest game – and that was it," he said at the press conference after the game. Many chances, no goals Just in the beginning of the season, the Lusatians had chances upon chances, but they did not use them to lead. "We got into the game very well, very intensely, with good moments," the coach himself, Claus-Dieter Wollitz, praised. But he also complained: "After the first 20 or 22 minutes, we didn't have that counterpunch anymore." Klose would have liked to use this phase to take the lead: "If you get 1-0 there, a lot becomes easier because the opponent has to open up. We didn't manage that." But since both sides had similar problems in utilizing their opportunities, the 0-0 at halftime was quite deserved. And then? "After halftime, it was clear: who uses the first mistake?" It was Cottbus in the form of Justin Butler, who scored his 5th season goal (56th minute). The Lusatians defended the lead with heart. "We worked as a collective today, everyone for everyone," goalkeeper Marcel Lotka praised after the game. They still could not prevent the late equalizer by Styopa Mkrtchyan (79th minute). Top game under floodlights: Energie Cottbus scores against second-place Nürnberg And so, players and coaches lamented after the game that they did not win against the team that had not lost a game in the season yet. Because, as Lotka said: "We go into every game as if we want to win." He could not miss how many opportunities his teammates missed. "I think if you look at the course of the game, we could have scored some goals in the first half," said the goalkeeper. Marcel Lotka holds the ball. © Daniel Marr/IMAGO Wollitz was annoyed by another scene. Butler had scored the supposed 2-0 shortly after the 1-0, but the assist provider Henry Rorig had been offside earlier. "With the offside-suspect goal, we were simply too greedy: the passing window was wide open, Henry could have received the ball even with a later run. With good box occupation, that might have been the lid," the coach criticized. The equalizer was therefore deserved, said Wollitz. He agreed with his colleague on this. "Overall, it was a deserved draw, and we take the point because we know how hard it is to play here," said Klose. Many beautiful moments – and a very bad one Although he would have surely liked to take advantage of the fact that the top team Hertha BSC also only gained one point in the parallel game against the last-place Holstein Kiel, Nürnberg could have reduced the gap by two points, but it was a successful evening for the former top striker. He experienced "fantastic energy, fantastic atmosphere in the stadium and many things that make football." Claus-Dieter Wollitz and Miroslav Klose were in great agreement after the game. © Daniel Marr/IMAGO And then Klose almost burst into enthusiasm about the visit to the friendly stadium: "The warmth with which we arrived was especially. No whistles, nothing. When the bus passed by, everything was calm. But if the referee whistles, it cannot be a friendly match. I have experienced that often here, and I also enjoyed playing here." Woll also suspected that he scored a total of nine goals when he was with his teams in Lusatia. But, and he remembered this especially: "That I received the only red card of my career here is unfortunately the negative thing that has stuck with me." Your opinion is important to us. Send us your feedback on this article: briefe@berliner-zeitung.de