SV Darmstadt 98 has to do without its top striker for a short time in the top game against Kaiserslautern and still sweeps past the Red Devils. The fans sing about promotion, the opponents can understand that well.
Frontrunner, frontrunner! The lilies are at the top of the tableau.
Image © IMAGO / Eibner
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01:38 Min. |Tim Brockmeier
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It took a while until the stadium at the Böllenfalltor began to dream. It wasn’t until 10:24 p.m. on Saturday evening that the first shouts rang out: “Frontrunner, frontrunner – hey, hey!” It only took seconds for the majority of lily fans to join in the well-known battle cry. The Bölle celebrated the convincing one 4-0 home win against 1. FC Kaiserslautern appropriately loud and euphoric.
At this point, SV Darmstadt 98 had been leading the table for almost two hours. At 8:36 p.m. goalgetter Fraser Hornby hit a justified penalty into the net to make it 1-0 (6th minute) and thus catapulted the Lilies to the top of the blitz table. Almost two hours and three Darmstadt goals later it was clear: the Lilies would be greeting you from the top of the 2nd Bundesliga at least until next weekend.
Video
07:14 Min. |hr
Highlights SV Darmstadt 98 – 1. FC Kaiserslautern
End of the video post
Lieberknecht convinced by the lilies
For the former SVD and current Lautern coach Torsten Lieberknecht, this is no coincidence. “Everything is just right: the team is right, the cohesion is right,” said the 52-year-old, paying respect to the home team. And then he said what more and more Darmstadt residents dare to dream of: “We saw the first promoted team today.” There are good reasons to see it the same way.
The Lilies are unbeaten in eleven games. The same applies in the home stadium at Böllenfalltor: the South Hesse team played eleven games there, none of which they lost. In the promotion race, the SVD proves what the competition lacks: consistency.
Video
07:12 Min. ||hr
The PK after the Lilien victory against Kaiserslautern
Bild © hessenschau.de
“An awesome feeling”
Even individual setbacks cannot change that. Top goalscorer Isac Lidberg was briefly unavailable for the game against Lautern with a thigh problem, but the absence of the best goalscorer in the 2nd Bundesliga was never felt. Substitute Fynn Lakenmacher stepped into the breach and promptly scored his first goal of the season to make it 2-0 (29th).
Kai Klefisch – also with his first goal of the season – put the lid on it before the break (45th). Luca Marseiler proved that the lilies are never satisfied, as he scored the fourth goal in stoppage time (90th + 2) and underlined SVD’s status as a contender for promotion. “That’s an awesome feeling,” commented Lakenmacher the table lead and added with a smile: “for now.”
The concept of small steps
Of course, they are not defending themselves against the fantasies of the fans in Darmstadt, but they know full well: nobody has been promoted on the 21st matchday. The season is still long.
In addition to team unity, coach Florian Kohfeldt knows another great strength of his team: focus. “From now on we only have one thing on our minds: Eintracht Braunschweig,” said Kohfeldt with a view to the upcoming opponent. The lilies, they take one step after another. The ascension chants can then come a little later.
date: 2026-02-09 04:18:00
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