Magdeburg cruise past Osnabrück in second round of 2. Bundesliga
Magdeburg took all three points at Bremer Brücke on Saturday, beating Osnabrück 3-0 in the second matchday of the 2. Bundesliga regular season. The visitors moved clear of trouble after two goals from Alexander Nollenberger and a late strike from Emmanuel Edosa Iyoha sealed the win.
Nollenberger had the first, firing in at the 24th minute before doubling his tally just eleven minutes later. To be fair, Osnabrück should have taken something from the half — they had chances. Mateusz Żukowski thought he had levelled at 49 minutes, only for the goal to be cancelled by VAR for offside. And here's the thing: the match turned on those two moments, not the minutes that followed.
Iyoha ended Magdeburg's dominance in the second half, slotting home at 67 minutes after Osnabrück had made three changes at the break. Kopacz, Lesueur and Badjie came on for the hosts, but Pierre Nadjombe picked up a yellow card shortly after returning to the pitch. Konrad Faber would join him in the book two minutes later, and by then the contest had gone quiet.
Magdeburg created more, but Osnabrück's expected goals figure of 0.97 tells you they were not without their moments. Six shots on target for the hosts against six for the visitors, though Magdeburg's 1.72 expected goals suggests they should have scored more. Possession sat at 60 per cent for the away side, and they completed 546 passes compared with 351 from Osnabrück.
Both sides had won twice and lost twice after this result, sitting seventh and eighth on six points apiece. Magdeburg's recent form has been mixed — a 1-6 defeat to Eintracht Braunschweig followed by a 1-1 draw with West Ham — while Osnabrück had lost 3-4 to Heidenheim and 0-2 to Paderborn. This result gives the visitors a slight edge going forward.
Substitutions continued through the final quarter, with Nollenberger and Mergner coming off together at 83 minutes. Kammerbauer, Hyrylainen and Atik all came on for Osnabrück in the closing stages. Magdeburg saw the game out without further incident, and the three points feel earned rather than given.