VfL Osnabrück has suffered a bitter setback in the promotion race of the 3rd football league. The purple-whites did not get beyond a 2-2 (1-1) draw in the derby against SV Meppen on Sunday. But even for the guests, the one point in the relegation battle was actually not enough. Although the Emslanders remained unbeaten for the fourth time in a row, the gap to the first non-relegation place is still four points two matchdays before the end of the season.
Osnabrück - Niklas Wiemann gave the purple and whites the lead in the 22nd minute. But then Markus Balmert (38') and Bruno Soares (61') turned the game around for the Emslanders. In front of 15,741 spectators in the sold-out stadium at Bremer Brücke, Florian Kleinhansl managed to equalise for the hosts (68), but it was not enough for Osnabrück to do more. After the victories of the rivals on Saturday, the team of coach Tobias Schweinsteiger is now two points behind the promotion places. Dpa