Heidenheim stage comeback in play-off first leg | OneFootball

The clash opened with a chaotic period for both sides, with Heidenheim's Niklas Dorsch appealing for a penalty after going down following a one-on-one against Elversberg goalkeeper Nicolas Kristof.

Both sides had their chances early on, as Marvin Pieringer, Mathias Honsak and Adrian Beck all failed to open the scoring for Heidenheim, while Lukas Petkov sent a strong shot towards Heidenheim goalkeeper Kevin Müller that was well saved by the experienced shot stopper.

Stubbornly playing their style of football that has earned them plaudits all season, Petkov went on to open the scoring for the visitors in the 18th minute after scoring a fantastic goal against Schalke in Gelsenkirchen last weekend.

The forward raced on to a knock-on by Fisnik Asslani before sending a sweetly hit half-volley into the bottom right corner, sending the travelling contingent from Saarland into raptures.

Tom Zimmerschied prodded wide in the 34th minute, with Elversberg looking to double their advantage.

And this was something that they did in the 42nd minute after another lovely move featuring both Asslani and Petkov, but this time it was the former who slotted home into the bottom right corner of Müller's goal to give the visitors a huge advantage going into the break.

Omar Traore thought that he had pulled one back for Heidenheim on the stroke of half time after a lovely right-footed finish into the corner of Kristof's goal; however, a VAR check adjudged Marvin Pieringer to be offside during the buildup.

Making three changes at half time, Frank Schmidt added fresh impetus in Paul Wanner, Budu Zivzivadze and Leo Scienza with the hope of turning the tide.

Elversberg came inches away from adding a third in the 48th minute, as Hoffenheim loanee Muhammed Damar sent a header disappointingly wide of the post after being found in acres of space inside the box.

Mathias Honsak saw a fantastic volleyed effort hit the bar in the 58th minute as Heidenheim began to bang on the door, before substitute Zivzivadze sent an effort wide inside the box.

And the hosts did find themselves back in the encounter just three minutes later as Tim Siersleben capitalised on a poor parry from Kristof following a Scienza freekick. The centre back was on hand to send the ball home from just a few yards out.

And in quick time, the hosts were level. As Scienza once again forced a save out of the goalkeeper, it was Mathias Honsak this time who was exactly where he needed to be to tap the ball home into an empty net.

Coming from 2-0 down, Frank Schmidt's side were now back on track in this all-crucial first leg. With a different urgency about them, the control of the match had fully shifted towards Heidenheim.

With the chaos calming down, the hosts were looking the more likely, however, neither side had created any real chance of note as the encounter reached its final stages before eventually ending with both sides locked at 2-2.

With the visitors seemingly happy to take a draw back to Saarland, they now prepare for a vital second leg on home soil in a winner-takes-all encounter.