Bundesliga 2, Matchday 9: Hertha win away at Schalke, St. Pauli top and Hamburg stumble
Schalke remain in trouble after losing at home to Hertha Berlin after St. Pauli take advantage of another Hamburg slip to go clear at the top.
Click the play buttons below to watch highlights from each game
Fortuna Düsseldorf 1-1 Osnabrück
Goals: 1-0 Iyoha (60'), 1-1 Engelhardt (90')
Fortuna Düsseldorf were a minute away from going top of Bundesliga 2 overnight, Daniel Thioune's men settling for a share the spoils with Osnabrück late on. Emmanuel Iyoha had given them the lead on the hour but it was cancelled out by Erik Engelhardt on 90 minutes.
Kaiserslautern 1-3 Hannover
Goals: 0-1 Nielsen (17'), 1-1 Tomlak (pen, 45'+5), 2-1 Opoku (79'), 3-1 Tomlak (pen, 90'+10)
Instead, Kaiserslautern seized their chance, beating fellow promotion aspirants Hannover 96 to take their provisional place at the second tier summit. Håvard Nielsen gave the visitors an early lead but Boris Tomiak scored a pair of penalties either side of an Aaron Opoku strike to secure a 3-1 win.
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St. Pauli 5-1 Nuremberg
Goals: 1-0 Saad (4'), 1-1 Okunuki (24'), 2-1 Eggestein (49'), 3-1 Eggestein (56'), 4-1 Amenyido (90'+3), 5-1 Metcalfe (90'+5)
Red cards: Nielsen (90'+2)
St. Pauli moved top of Bundesliga 2 with a resounding 5-1 win over Nuremberg. Elias Saad struck from close range inside four minutes, but a mistake by Pauli goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj allowed Mats Möller Daehli to feed Kanji Okunuki for an equaliser against the run of play. Pauli restored order shortly after the restart when Johannes Eggestein took advantage of a defensive mix-up to turn in an Eric Smith free-kick, before doubling his tally with a composed 12-yard finish. Injury-time goals from substitutes Etienne Amenyido and Connor Metcalfe added the gloss as Pauli extended their record as the only unbeaten team left in the division to nine matches.
Magdeburg 1-1 Karlsruhe
Goals: 0-1 Schleusener (11'), 1-1 Castaignos (49')
The visitors seized the initiative after just 11 minutes through Fabian Schleusener's fourth league goal of the campaign and they held that lead at the turnaround. It was Magdeburg's turn to fly out the blocks at the start of the second-half, however, and they were soon level thanks to Luc Castaignos' 49th-minute effort.
Greuther Fürth 1-0 Hansa Rostock
Goals: 1-0 Roßbach (pen, 33')
Damian Roßbach's own-goal after half an hour gave the hosts the lead and it would be one that Greuther didn't relinquish as they chalked up a third victory of the season. These three points see Greuther leapfrog Hansa into the top half of the table. As for Rostock, they suffered a fifth league defeat of the season and third in succession away from home.
Wehen Wiesbaden 1-1 Hamburg
Goals: 1-0 Vukotić (81'), 1-1 Muheim (89')
Hamburg travelled to Wiesbaden looking to move into top spot but were greeted by stubborn hosts as the two teams went into the break goalless. It was the home side that eventually got themselves in front, though, as Aleksandar Vukotić opened the scoring with nine minutes to play. The drama was far from over, with Miro Muheim finding an 89th-minute equaliser before László Bénes missed a last minute penalty.
Schalke 1-2 Hertha Berlin
Goals: 0-1 Prevljak (41'), 0-2 Reese (51'), 1-2 Kabadayi (80')
Red cards: Karaman (85')
Schalke remain in the relegation play-off spot after losing 2-1 at home to Hertha. With half-time fast approaching, the visitors took the lead through Smail Prevljak's scrappy effort and, shortly after the restart, they found themselves two to the good via Fabian Reese. Yusuf Kabadayi did halve the deficit with 10 minutes remaining, but it was too little, too late for the hosts. Kenan Karaman's late red card was a further setback for Die Königsblauen, who have now lost each of their last three matches.
Holstein Kiel 1-1 Elversberg
Goals: 1-0 Becker (44'), 1-1 Schnellbacher (70')
Kiel missed the opportunity to move into second place as they were held 1-1 at home by Elversberg. Marcel Rapp's men dominated early on and, on the stroke of half-time, Timo Becker's effort gave them the lead. However, they were unable to drive home their advantage after the restart, allowing Luca Schnellbacher to clinch a point for his side midway through the second period. The result means the newly-promoted visitors are unbeaten in their previous five outings.
Eintracht Braunschweig 1-2 Paderborn
Goals: 0-1 Hansen (11'), 0-2 Obermair (26'), 1-2 Ivanov (39')
Braunschweig remain rock bottom after losing at home against top-half Paderborn. It took just 11 minutes for the visitors to move in front, with Mattes Jansen breaking the deadlock, and they extended their lead further before the half-hour mark through Raphael Obermair. Although Robert Ivanov pulled one back before half-time, Braunschweig could not recover and fell to a sixth defeat in nine league games.
Click here for the full Bundesliga 2 table
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