Heidenheim claimed a 5:3 victory over Dynamo Dresden at the Voith-Arena on 29 August in the second Bundesliga's third round of fixtures. The hosts took an early lead through V. Vermeij in the thirtieth minute before Dresden responded with goals from O. Mhamdi and J. Niehues late in the game. And here's the thing — Heidenheim added three more strikes to secure the points despite the visitors' improved second-half showing.
T. Keller picked up two bookings in five minutes before receiving a red card in the sixty-ninth minute, leaving Dresden with ten men for the closing stages. L. Kerber and M. Honsak were both substituted in the fifty-sixth minute, a change that seemed to reflect the growing tension. By then, Heidenheim had already doubled their advantage when J. Schoppner found the net in the sixty-seventh minute.
R. Wagner extended Heidenheim's lead in the seventy-third minute, and F. Muller added an own goal in the seventy-seventh minute to put the hosts firmly in control. Dresden refused to lie down, however, with O. Mhamdi pulling one back in the eighty-seventh minute before J. Niehues made it 4:2. To be fair, Dresden had created more attacking opportunities despite playing with ten men.
Heidenheim then added two late goals in the ninetieth minute through M. Breunig and J. Sterner to complete the scoring. The visitors made changes to their lineup in the eightieth and eighty-fourth minutes, bringing on M. Busch, B. Zivzivadze, V. Vermeij and B. Bobzien in search of a comeback. Neither side could find another goal, and the match ended with Heidenheim holding their nerve.
The statistics told an interesting story. Heidenheim controlled only 37 per cent of possession but registered ten shots on target against Dresden's eight, while their expected goals total of 3.24 dwarfed the visitors' 1.52. Dresden dominated the passing game with 403 successful passes compared to Heidenheim's 198, and attempted 102 attacks to the hosts' 76. Shots accuracy was higher for Dresden at 47 per cent versus 37 per cent for Heidenheim.
The result moved Heidenheim to fourth place on six points from three games, while Dresden remained in fifteenth position with three points. The hosts had won two and lost one, while the visitors had one victory and two defeats. Heidenheim's recent form had been mixed, including heavy defeats to SSV Jena, Bayern and Hertha Berlin earlier in the season. Dresden had bounced back from those losses with a 6:0 win over Westfalia Rheine and a 1:0 victory against Darmstadt 98.