Defeat shock in the relegation battle: Kleve and Baumberg are drama!

Defeat shock in the relegation battle: Kleve and Baumberg are drama!

In the Oberliga game between the 1st FC Kleve and the sports fans Baumberg, which took place on March 10, 2025, the encounter was of great importance for both teams. With 280 spectators, including numerous supporters from Baumberg, they looked forward to a real six-point game. Georg Mewes, the sporting director of Kleve, referred to the high pressure that was on both teams in this combat -emphasized game.

The game started with a balanced possession and lots of midfield skirts. The first noteworthy chance had the 1st FC Kleve through Diwan Duyar in the 9th minute, whose shot the goal missed. In the 17th minute it was Enes Topal who brought Baumberg in the lead with a goal, followed by a fast second goal by Baris Sarikaya just two minutes later. Topal could even have increased to 3-0, but gave a great chance in the 35th minute.

The struggle to return and relegation

Despite these residues, Kleve did not give up. Nedzad Dragovic failed shortly afterwards with a free kick at the Baumberg goalkeeper. In the 39th minute, Juliano Ismanovski showed fighting spirit and scored the connection goal for Kleve after a precise flank from Frederik Meurs. Mewes was critical of the first 20 minutes that he described as bad.

With a fresh start to the second half, Fabio Forster took the opportunity and achieved the compensation for Kleve in the 47th minute. Elidon Bilali even gave the hosts 3-2 in the 51st minute. Baumberg did not give up, however, and Lukas Bludau had a header chance before Robin Schnadt equalized again for Baumberg after a corner in the 75th minute.

the Situation escalated when the referee pointed to the penalty point after a handball by Frederik Meurs. Forster received the yellow-red card in added time, which further tightened the situation for Kleve. Kosi Saka finally converted the penalty to the winning goal for Baumberg, so that the team has only one point behind Kleve and the pressure on the hosts continues to grow.

The relegation situation

Current status for Sportfreunde Baumberg is the 15th place in the table in the Oberliga Niederrhein, which means a possible relegation place. They experienced a difficult season with 4 wins, 5 draws and 11 defeats so far. After a bad start to the year with two defeats in a row, including a 0: 4 defeat against TSV Meerbusch, coach Salah El Halimi demands both defensive stability and offensive effectiveness from his team.

The situation is tense because Baumberg has only scored two goals in the last four games while they were accepting ten goals. However, El Halimi is optimistic and believes in the skills of his players to overcome the negative series. The team wants to free itself from the current situation and has decided to convert the negative situation into positive

The table shows a tight race for relegation and both Kleve and Baumberg urgently need to collect points in order to escape the impending descent. Kleve has only one point ahead of the 15th place, which would probably lead to descent. Umut Akpinar from Kleve also criticized the referee decision after the fateful game.

The next game for Baumberg is against SC St. Tönis, which is in good shape. It remains to be seen whether the master of the past season, who waived the promotion, is to free himself from this threatening situation. But the fans can hope for an exciting continuation of the season.