Leipzig saw off Foxes Duisburg 5:4 in the Oberliga North on Sunday, a result that kept both sides level on points in the early stages of the campaign. The hosts sit eighth while the visitors remain tenth, each with one victory and two defeats after three matches. Zero points separates them, which tells you nothing about where they'll finish but everything about how tight the table is right now.
And here's the thing — this wasn't supposed to go the way it did. We had Leipzig winning, though only at 52 per cent confidence. You don't bet the farm on that sort of certainty, but the home side delivered when it mattered. The scoreline suggests a game wide open from start to finish, and looking at what's happened recently, that's hardly surprising.
Both sides have been scoring and conceding freely. Leipzig lost 2:4 to Hannover Scorpions and 1:3 to Herford in their last two outings, though they've also won 4:2 twice and kept a clean sheet against Benátky. Duisburg's form has been even more erratic — they've lost 3:8 to Tilburg Trappers and 2:5 to Hamburg White Bears, but they found the net six and seven times in other games. To be fair, defence isn't exactly their strong point.
By then, the result meant both teams extended their unbeaten runs — or rather, extended their winning runs to two games after this one. Leipzig move slightly clearer in the middle of the pack while Duisburg stay rooted to the bottom half. Neither side needs the points badly yet, but the season is long enough for fortunes to turn.
What stands out is the pattern rather than any single moment. Three matches, three different outcomes for each side, and neither has found consistency. The heat took the sting out of the losses — or maybe the losses took the sting out of the heat. Either way, both sides saw the game out and earned something from the afternoon.
