With high stakes at play, the match began as a messy, frantic affair with an undercurrent of bubbling aggression, as referee Sven Jablonski regularly dished out free kicks and warnings in the opening 15 minutes.
Among the bruising tackles, there were pockets of pressure for both sides, but it was the away side that would take a decisive advantage in the opening 45 minutes.
Having promised his mum this week that he would shoot more, Lukas Petkov made Mrs Petkov proud, as he latched onto Fisnik Asllani’s smart flick and lashed a first-time effort into the bottom corner.
Having assisted the opener, Asllani was a bringer of doom once again for the home side on the brink of half time. In a crowded box, Elversberg somehow managed to string some passes together, the last of which found Asllani, who stroked home comfortably from eight yards out.
Two goals down and fearing for their top-flight status, the hosts thought they had a lifeline when Omar Haktab Traoré scored from a tight angle, but the goal was ruled out as Marvin Pieringer was in an offside position in the build up.
Having made a triple substitution ahead of the restart, coach Frank Schmidt was hoping for a change in fortunes in the second half, but things almost got worse before things got a lot better.
Muhammed Damar should have made it 3-0 when he glanced a free header wide from 10 yards out, and it would prove to be a costly miss.
Having been second best for most of the game, the home side struck twice in three minutes to set up a thrilling second leg in Saarland on Monday.
First, Tim Siersleben tapped home into an empty net after Nicolas Kristof parried the ball out into danger, and just two minutes later, Mathias Honsak also turned home a rebound to grab a deserved draw for FCH.
In the end, two goals in each half keeps the tie finely poised going into next week’s second leg.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Fisnik Asllani (SV Elversberg)