Kevin Müller’s serious injury casts shadow over relegation six-pointer

Heidenheim and Bochum played out a goalless draw, but the headline story was a serious injury to the hosts’ goalkeeper.

Heidenheim and Bochum wasted their chance to climb up the table with a stalemate draw at Voith-Arena. However, there was a bigger concern in the game as Kevin Müller suffered a serious injury after a collision.

With the relegation/promotion playoff their only chance of surviving the drop, Bochum knew there was no good result other than a win in this fixture. Dieter Hecking made four changes from the home draw to Union Berlin, while the hosts only replaced suspended Niklas Dorsch with Leo Scienza.

Heidenheim’s hopes of survival were boosted with a late win in Stuttgart last Friday, but they wasted no time looking for a first goal on this one. Meanwhile, the visitors had to settle for an early substitution with Philipp Hofmann feeling discomfort following an aerial collision with Marvin Pieringer.

By the half-hour mark, the game has seen its second forced substitution. Scienza had a lively game until he struggled with back problems, which meant he couldn’t continue the game. The two substitutes – Myron Boadu and Sirlord Conteh – didn’t need much time to settle as they were both involved in their respective team’s best opportunities before the half-time break.

Five minutes after the break, we had the game’s third substitution due to yet another injury. After a hard collision with Ibrahima Sissoko, Heidenheim’s Kevin Müller received a lengthy treatment on the pitch. Both sets of fans rallied to show solidarity while Müller was stretchered off the pitch after ten minutes. 

After the restart, Bochum nearly took the lead when Boadu was denied by the post. The hosts regained the momentum after that, but they couldn’t create clear goal-scoring chances. Timo Horn denied another late winner for Heidenheim with a superb save in the 100th minute.

The draw is a good result for the other three teams in the relegation fight. Heidenheim stay in the playoff spot, while Bochum remain at the foot of the table.