Heidenheim 2-2 Elversberg: Bundesliga side recover first-leg draw in relegation play-off

Heidenheim recovered from two goals down to draw 2-2 in the home leg of their Bundesliga relegation play-off against Elversberg on Thursday.

The Bundesliga side were playing in the UEFA Conference League earlier this year but have endured a dismal domestic campaign, pitting them against Elversberg as they aim to preserve their top-flight status.

Elversberg were playing in the fourth tier as recently as 2022 and quickly set about upsetting their hosts, with star man Fisnik Asllani playing a central role.

Asllani set up Lukas Petkov for the opener after 18 minutes and then doubled the visitors' lead himself three minutes before half-time.

Despite that setback, Heidenheim regrouped at the interval, and pressure was building on the Elversberg goal straight from the kick-off.

After early chances went to waste, Tim Siersleben pounced on a slack parry from Nicolas Kristof, and the second goal followed a similar pattern three minutes later as the goalkeeper palmed a low shot only as far as Mathias Honsak.

There was still almost half an hour to play at that stage, but Elversberg dug in to preserve parity ahead of returning home for the second leg on Monday.

Data debrief: First leg follows form book

While in theory an Elversberg victory would have been an upset, the first half followed all the trends of the season so far.

Heidenheim earned a Bundesliga-low 11 points at home this season and again struggled in front of their own crowd as Elversberg stretched their unbeaten run to nine matches, the longest ongoing run in all competitions across clubs in the top two divisions.

Asllani was predictably the star, too, having been involved in 26 goals in the 2. Bundesliga this term, the most in the league.

But Heidenheim did not give up after half-time and ended up creating chances worth 2.68 expected goals as they earned a draw that could yet be vital ahead of the return match.