2. Bundesliga: Magdeburg survive Fürth fight back to edge nine-goal thriller | OneFootball

A chaotic 20-minute first-half spell, inspired by a Mateusz Żukowski hat-trick, had Magdeburg flying at 5-1. Fürth, however, somehow found a remarkable fightback to turn the contest into a nervy finale, with the visitors eventually clinging on to claim all three points in another nine-goal thriller between these two sides. 

What unfolded in the first half was nothing short of extraordinary, with eight goals before the break allowing neither side a moment to catch their breath. Fürth opened the scoring when Brynjar Ingi Bjarnason headed home from a corner, before Magdeburg hit back 13 minutes in via an unfortunate Reno Münz own goal following a Baris Atik cross.

Magdeburg then turned the game on its head just two minutes later. Laurin Ulrich won the ball high up the pitch and fed Żukowski, who took a touch inside the area before firing low past Timo Schlieck to make it 2-1. With momentum firmly in their favour, the visitors struck again in the 23rd minute as Atik pulled the ball back for Rayan Ghrieb, who swept home into the bottom corner.

Fürth were left shellshocked, their defensive frailties laid bare. Just before the half-hour mark, Żukowski netted Magdeburg’s fourth before completing his hat-trick only three minutes later, once again assisted by Atik, to make it 5-1. Remarkably, Fürth dragged themselves back into the contest before the interval, with goals in the 43rd and 50th minutes from Doni Arifi and new signing Jan Elvedi breathing life back into the Sportpark Ronhof.

Within two minutes of the restart, Fürth closed the gap further as another debutant, Sayfallah Ltaief, intercepted a loose Atik pass, drove into the area and chipped the ball over Dominik Reimann to make it 4-5 and inject fresh doubt into Magdeburg’s minds.

The fightback eventually fizzled out, though Fürth continued to pin Magdeburg deep in their own half for long spells. It appeared the hosts had expended most of their energy clawing back the three-goal deficit, struggling to create clear-cut chances thereafter. Deep into the five minutes of added time, Fürth thought they had forced an equaliser from a corner, but goal-line technology showed Reimann had clawed the ball away by the narrowest of margins to preserve the victory for Petrik Sander’s side.

The result represents a huge win for Magdeburg, halting a run of two straight defeats and lifting them up to 13th place. For Fürth, it is a deeply damaging loss despite the spirited comeback, leaving them with just one win from their last nine matches and still rooted to the bottom of the table.