Würzburg Kickers beat Waldhof Mannheim 2:0

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents Würzburg Kickers beat Waldhof Mannheim 2:0.

The Würzburger Kickers ended their mini-crisis on matchday 10 of the 3. Liga — and did so with a late twist. Tarsis Bonga hammered the ball under the crossbar from around 14 meters in the 89th minute to seal a 2:0 (1:0) home win over SV Waldhof Mannheim and lift the hosts to 16th place, at least temporarily out of the relegation zone.

A goal out of nowhere — and a Mannheim side running out of ideas

That the home side even led at the break was already a surprise. Waldhof had dominated possession, pushed forward with pace down the right through Okeke, and produced the clearer chances: Michel fired wide from the left edge of the box (12th), Breunig nearly turned a Thill cross into his own net before Rajkovacic reacted brilliantly (26th), and Kraus went down in the area after a slight touch from Polte — referee Yannick Sager waved play on (35th). "The goal fell in the first half more or less out of nowhere," the match report notes — and that is exactly how it looked. Franjic pushed down the right, Polte's attempted clearance fell straight to Xaver Kiefersauer at the edge of the area, and the striker swept home from central position to make it 1:0 (44th). For you as a Würzburg fan, that's the kind of gift you take without thinking twice.

Rajkovacic holds — and Bonga finishes it off

Coach Rui Mota reacted at half-time, sending on Masca and Muteba for Bierschenk and Michel, and later introduced Boyd in place of Ogbemudia, switching from a three-man defence to a twin striker setup (62nd). The change almost paid off. Boyd rose highest from a left-half-space cross but lacked the power to beat Rajkovacic (64th), Masca tried to thread through Ulbricht only to be denied by the Würzburg keeper again (70th), and a Thill free kick from the touchline went straight towards goal before Rajkovacic tipped it clear (74th). At the other end, Bonga had already set up Kinsombi for a chance that sailed wide (76th). The decisive moment came late: Franjic sent Bonga through from the halfway line, he carried the ball into the box unchallenged from a left-half-field position and beat Nijhuis with an unstoppable strike under the bar (89th). "Bonga provided the final word in style."

Three wins from five home games — and what comes next

With their third home win in five matches, Würzburg climbed from the relegation zone to 16th. Before kick-off the side had only eight points from nine games and sat second from bottom; a 2:2 comeback against Havelse had shown fight, but results had not followed. Michael Schiele rotated three times from that Havelse game, bringing in Kraus, Embaye and Omore for Kastanaras, Kinsombi and Farahnak. The win gives the side genuine momentum before an Aufsteiger duel at SV Meppen next Saturday (24.10.2026, 14:00). For Waldhof, it is a second defeat in a row after the 0:3 midweek loss at Ingolstadt, dropping them to 11th. Rui Mota had made four changes to his starting eleven, but the side that had beaten SG Sonnenhof Großaspach 5:1 just days before now travels home without points and faces TSG 1899 Hoffenheim II on Sunday (19:30) to close out matchday 11.