SV Darmstadt 98 recovered from a two-goal deficit to earn a 2-2 draw against Holstein Kiel in their 2. Bundesliga opening match on Saturday. Goals from Guillermo Balzi and Phil Harres gave Holstein Kiel an early lead before Darmstadt scored twice late in the second half.
Holstein Kiel took the lead in the eighth minute when Guillermo Balzi finished past Darmstadt goalkeeper Marcel Schuhen after a defensive error by Aleksander Vukotic. Phil Harres doubled the lead in the 42nd minute to give the visitors a 0-2 advantage at half-time.
Squad changes and lineup decisions
Darmstadt head coach Florian Kohfeldt handed starting spots to four summer signings following the departure of forward trio Killian Corredor, Fraser Hornby and Isac Lidberg. Lance Duijvestijn and Noah Weißhaupt started in attack alongside Fynn Lakenmacher, while full-backs Christopher Lannert and Florian Kleinhansl entered the defensive line. Sporting director Paul Fernie confirmed before kickoff that defender Matej Maglica was omitted from the squad while negotiating a transfer to another club.
Aleksander Vukotic replaced Maglica in the starting lineup but suffered a difficult first half. Vukotic misplaced a pass near the halfway line that led to Balzi's opening goal. Lance Duijvestijn had a goal disallowed for offside, and Vukotic later misjudged a cross that allowed Harres to score Kiel's second goal.
Second half comeback and late goals
Darmstadt struggled to create chances early in the second half and relied on goalkeeper Schuhen to prevent further damage. Schuhen denied Alexander Bernhardsson in the 52nd minute after Kleinhansl missed a clearance, and saved a shot from Harres two minutes later. Kohfeldt made a double substitution on 60 minutes, introducing new signings Nicolas Verkooijen and Ho-Jae Lee.
Ho-Jae Lee cut the deficit in the 76th minute by scoring from inside the penalty area following a counterattack started by Schuhen. Aleksander Vukotic completed the comeback in the 86th minute by heading in the equalizing goal to make it 2-2.
Match details and substitutions
Darmstadt introduced Kai Merx for Hiroki Furukawa in the 68th minute, while Mared El Kadiri and Raoul Petretta replaced Lannert and Kleinhansl in the 85th minute. Kiel brought on Troels Therkelsen, Faride Alidou, Colin Ivezic and Laurynas Ugoh as second-half substitutes. Referee Bickel from Wolfsburg showed yellow cards to Weißhaupt, Furukawa, Sekine, Nekic and Parduzi in front of 17,095 spectators.
