Nürnberg moved to the summit of the 2. Bundesliga with a 4-1 victory over Arminia Bielefeld at the Max-Morlock-Stadion on Friday evening. The hosts have now won all three matches this season, sitting on nine points after three games, while the visitors remain in tenth place with just three points from their opening trio of fixtures.
The home side struck early and often. M.A. Zoma opened the scoring in the eleventh minute, and by then the visitors were already looking uncomfortable. T. Janisch doubled the advantage before the interval, and the momentum never really shifted away from the hosts, to be fair.
and here's the thing about that twenty-minute mark — Janisch's goal in the twenty-second changed everything. Nürnberg had turned it on, pressing higher and finding space in the final third. The visitors' attempts to build from the back kept breaking down, and they had no answer for the intensity.
A. Markhiev completed his brace in the sixty-seventh minute, putting the result beyond doubt. Arminia pulled one back through M. Worl in the seventy-sixth, but it was too little, too late. The visitors threw everything at it in the closing stages, but the home defence held firm.
Despite registering more attacks and more corners, Bielefeld could not find a way back into it. They created nothing in the way of big chances against three for Nürnberg, and their expected goals figure of 1.19 meant little when shots accuracy sat at just twenty-four percent.
The win moves Nürnberg clear at the top of the table, and they fancy their chances of maintaining that position. Bielefeld's two defeats in three games leave them needing a response if they are to climb out of the lower reaches.
