TSV 1860 Munich wins against Ingolstadt: effort with pain

Kevin Volland left the pitch limping and with a bandage on his knee, Sigurd Haugen looked even worse, he appeared dazed and bleeding from the mouth, the Norwegian was immediately taken to hospital. Nevertheless, the sixties danced in circles at first, but after the final whistle the joy prevailed after this extremely intense 2:1 (1:1) win away at FC Ingolstadt. In a meeting that they like to call the “Upper Bavaria duel” (Ingolstadt’s coach Sabrina Wittmann) because they think they are too far apart for a derby. But this time too it came across like one.

“Everything was there,” said Patrick Hobsch, who scored the Lions’ winning goal in the 58th minute. There were, for example, eight yellow cards, a game that turned in Sixties’ favor despite a controversial sending-off for Volland, and eleven minutes of stoppage time in which Sixties goalkeeper Thomas Dähne speculated that the referee “just didn’t want to go home.” There was also a streaker in stoppage time, apparently an underage Lions fan. He may even have played a small part in the victory, at least because of him the stoppage time was not extended.

After the game, 1860 coach Markus Kauczinski could see the inner conflict: On the one hand, the fourth win in a row and the realization that his team is now part of the extended circle of promotion candidates again – who would have thought that four weeks ago. On the other hand, it was clear to him that “we would have to pay dearly for this.” Volland will certainly miss the last game of the calendar year at home against SC Verl, due to injury or his yellow-red suspension; Siemen Voet will be missing due to his fifth yellow card. And Haugen, who has been indispensable in fighting and scoring for months, will have to wait for another diagnosis after his violent collision with Ingolstadt’s goalkeeper Kai Eisele (78th).

Sixty striker Sigurd Haugen loses a tooth “or maybe half” in a collision

After the Schanzer made it 1-0 through Dennis Kaygin (20th), the attacker equalized with a well-placed header before the break (41st), it was his seventh goal of the season. “He lost a tooth or maybe half of it,” Kauczinski said of the scene in which Haugen looked like a crash test dummy as he crashed into Eisele’s shoulder and then crashed to the ground without braking. In this running duel with the keeper for the ball, Haugen might have been able to get out of the way.

However, the scene that led to Volland’s dismissal in the 66th minute caused even more discussion. The veteran wanted to pass on a chip ball in the opponent’s box, he also touched the ball, but then hit the head of opponent Jonas Scholz. “He doesn’t see the player coming from behind, his head is quite low,” said Kauczinski, adding that he didn’t see any fouls worthy of a yellow card in this scene. Volland had fallen unceremoniously, only saw yellow-red after two minutes of treatment and complained on the way out. Kauczinski only said about his injury: “The knee is still thick. It doesn’t feel like it’s that good for him.”

The Sixties fought for victory with a passion that they had often only shown in home games in the previous season – given the backdrop, with probably more than 6,000 Lions fans in the stadium, it was actually a home game. However, they initially had difficulty dealing with the hard-pressing Schanzers, who obviously wanted to win the game with their youth: the Ingolstadt starting eleven was, on average, almost four years younger than those in the sixties. The lead was deserved, but so was the equalizer by Haugen, presented by Hobsch.

“The beginning of the second half was the best we have played so far,” enthused Kauczinski, before and after the sending off the Lions also had the better chances: Hobsch hit the post seven minutes after the 2-1 from close range and out of the crowd (65th), Haugen failed twice before the crash on his own in front of Eisele (39th, 54th), shortly before the end substitute Florian Niederlechner missed the decision (90th + 9th), Thomas Dähne only had to seriously intervene again (90th + 8th). “The first thing now is that we have found our strengths again,” said the keeper, who emphasized his team’s attitude. But there’s nothing nicer than getting two days off after a win like that; that seems to be a new custom for the Lions.

At the end of the press conference, FC press spokeswoman Kristina Richter said goodbye; she is moving to second division club 1. FC Magdeburg during the winter break. That’s why Sixty’s coach Kauczinski wished her all the best and remarked: “Maybe we’ll see each other again soon.” Of course, that was pure politeness; of course, these days no one starts dreaming about 1860 Munich. Hobsch would find this “presumptuous”, in the end the most consistent team will simply be on top.

Kauczinski had won the four games in a row with the same starting eleven. This will now have to change in several positions against SC Verl; there may not even be enough defensive players available on Saturday due to the many long-term injuries.