Luca Sirch scored the Red Devils’ goal in their 1-1 tie against Fortuna in Düsseldorf on Sunday. (Facebook/1. FC Kaiserslautern)
1. FC Kaiserslautern’s trip to Düsseldorf on Sunday ended a 1-1 draw against Fortuna. And as in last week’s game against Nuremberg, the Red Devils took a 1-0 lead before their opponent tied the score late in the game.
FCK started with Simon Simoni in goal again, replacing an ill Julian Krall. The rest of coach Torsten Liebknecht’s lineup was Robinson, Sirch and Gyamfi defending; Haas, Sahin, Kunze and Joly in midfield; with Hanslik, Skyttä and Prtajin up front.
The Red Devils got off to a good start, with Maxwell Gyamfi nearly converting a long pass from Luca Sirch in the sixth minute, in front of more than 38,000 spectators at Merkur Spiel-Arena.
But as the game wore on, it was an even match and neither team risked much to put a score on the board. Thus, the sides went to intermission in a scoreless tie.
The first scoring chance of the second half was Kaiserslautern’s. Paul Joly sent a cross in the 52nd minute into the box that Ivan Prtajin headed on goal, but Fortuna keeper Florian Kastenmeier knocked the ball over the crossbar. A Prtajin header off the following corner kick went wide right.
Two minutes later Düsseldorf’s Tim Breithaupt fouled Naatan Skyttä. Sirch took the shot from about 24 yards out and sent a right footer into the upper right corner of the Fortuna goal for the 1-0 lead.
In the 58th minute it look liked the Red Devils had upped their lead to 2-0, when Leon Robinson pushed the ball over the Düsseldorf goal line. But after review, referee Lars Erbst took it back, calling Skyttä offside.
Fortuna had a chance to tie in the 74th minute, but Simoni stopped the header by Anouar El Azzouzi.
The nearly 12,000 FCK fans in the stadium were looking forward to their team taking home three points when, in the 84th minute Düsseldorf finally evened the score. Sima Suso took the ball from about 13 yards out and sent it into the left corner of the goal for the 1-1.
The Red Devils had a narrow escape in the fourth minute of stoppage time when Moritz Heyer was free on a header, but the ball bounced to the right of the FCK goal.
The tie dropped the Red Devils to sixth place in the second division standings with 20 points. Fortuna remains in 13th place with 11 points.
Next up for the Red Devils is an 8:30 p.m. Saturday night game at Fritz Walter Stadium against Hertha BSC Berlin.
Following an off week for national team play, FCK is at home again on Nov. 23, when Holstein Kiel visits the Betzenberg.
November 2, 2025 18:00
