By Regan Horn@horn_regan

2. Bundesliga: Braunschweig boost survival hopes with dramatic victory over Dresden

Eintracht Braunschweig gave their survival hopes a significant lift with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Dynamo Dresden this afternoon.

Ronny Hartmann/Getty Images

Goals from Florian Flick and Faride Alidou secured a crucial three points for Lars Kornetka’s side, who survived a missed Dresden penalty before holding firm during a tense late onslaught from the visitors.

The opening stages offered little in the way of clear-cut chances, with both sides struggling to establish any attacking rhythm during a cagey first 20 minutes. Braunschweig eventually broke the deadlock when Dresden failed to properly clear a delivery into the box, allowing the ball to fall kindly for Florian Flick on the edge of the area. After taking a touch to steady himself, the midfielder drilled a low effort into the bottom-left corner to put the hosts ahead.

Dresden slowly began to grow into the contest and nearly found an equaliser shortly after the half-hour mark. Jason Ceka whipped in a dangerous cross from the right which Fabio Di Michele Sanchez inadvertently diverted towards his own goal, but Ron-Thorben Hoffmann reacted sharply at his near post to prevent an unfortunate own goal and preserve Braunschweig’s lead heading into the interval.

The home side made the ideal start to the second half by doubling their advantage just five minutes after the restart. Fabio Kaufmann burst down the right flank before delivering an inviting cross into the six-yard box where Faride Alidou arrived ahead of Tim Schreiber to poke home from close range and make it 2-0.

Dresden coach Thomas Stamm responded with a series of attacking substitutions and his side were handed a huge opportunity to get back into the match in the 67th minute. Following sustained pressure, the visitors were awarded a penalty after Vincent Vermeij was caught in the face inside the area. Stefan Kutschke stepped up looking to spark a comeback, but Hoffmann produced an excellent low save to keep Braunschweig’s two-goal cushion intact.

Kutschke did eventually make amends with four minutes remaining, rising at the near post to guide a corner beyond Hoffmann and set up a nervy finale for the hosts.

With seven minutes of added time signalled and Dresden throwing everything forward, the tension around the stadium became palpable. The visitors came agonisingly close to snatching a dramatic equaliser at the death when Tony Menzel connected with Konrad Faber’s cross from the right, only to see his effort crash against the crossbar as Braunschweig survived one final scare to secure a priceless victory.

The result marks only Braunschweig’s second win in eight matches, but it could hardly have arrived at a more important moment. They now sit three points clear of the bottom three heading into the final round of fixtures and will hope other results fall in their favour this weekend. Dresden, meanwhile, are dragged firmly back into the relegation battle after missing a major opportunity to guarantee survival and may now find themselves anxiously watching the teams below them.