Niclas Füllkrug scored a first-half brace as Werder Bremen returned to the top of Bundesliga 2, courtesy of a come-from-behind win over Dynamo Dresden.

Werder Bremen 2-1 Dynamo Dresden
Goals: 0-1 Königsdorffer 2' (assist: Knipping), 1-1 Füllkrug 16' (assist: Ducksch), 2-1 Füllkrug 45' (assist: C. Groß)

Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer tore up the script when he directed Tim Knipping's header in off the underside of the crossbar with two minutes on the clock. Marvin Ducksch spurned a glorious chance to level moments later, but any hopes that Werder were having an off day were laid to rest in the 15th minute as Füllkrug combined with Ducksch to level. Bremen's strike duo continued to cause Dynamo problems, though the visitors weren't without chances of their own. The difference was Jiri Pavlenka was able to deny Michael Akoto and Christoph Daferner, while Füllkrug made his next effort stick with a powerful header late in the half.

Dresden - having seen Julius Kade miscue a gilft-edged header on the stroke of half-time - needed a full-stretch save from Anton Mitryushkin to prevent Leonardo Bittencourt from extending Werder's lead soon after the restart. They responded in kind through Königsdörffer, but he could not squeeze his effort past the on-rushing Pavlenka. That was about as close as Dresden came to finding an equaliser, though, as table-topping Bremen dug in to make it 10 matches in a row without defeat. As for Dresden, unfavourable results elsewhere mean they end the weekend in the relegation play-off spot, with nine rounds of fixtures remaining.

Match stats

• Bremen have won nine of their last 10, drawing the other.
• Füllkrug’s 13 goals for the league campaign have fallen across his last 15 appearances.
• Werder are the division’s third highest scorers (49).
• Sebastian Mai is the older brother of Werder’s Lukas. They’ve made 13 and 14 Bundesliga 2 appearances respectively in 2021/22.
• Königsdorffer scored his first goal since Matchday 17, and fourth of the league season.
• Only bottom two clubs Ingolstadt and Erzgebirge Aue have collected fewer points away this season (both eight) than Dresden’s nine.

Line-ups

Bremen: Pavlenka - Veljkovic, Toprak (c), Friedl - Groß - Weiser (Agu 90'+1), Bittencourt (Rapp 67'), Schmidt (Gruev 81'), Jung - Füllkrug, Ducksch (Woltemade 90'+1)
Unused subs: Zetterer, L. Mai, Schönfelder, Rapp, Mbom, Dinkci
Out: Plogmann (concussion), Schmid (suspended)
Coach: Ole Werner

Dresden: Mitryushkin - Akoto, Sollbauer (c), Knipping, Giorbelidze - S. Mai (Weihrauch 80'), Kade - Schröter (Borrello 66'), Batista-Meier (Mörschel 66'), Königsdorffer (Drchal 86') - Daferner (Diawusie 86')
Unused subs: Liesegang, Becker, Ehlers, Fein
Out: Broll (hand), Herrmann (knee), Löwe (knee), Stark (suspended), Vlachodimos (knee), Wiegers (knee), Will (flu)
Coach: Guerino Capretti

Matchday 25 round-up

Darmstadt 3-2 Heidenheim
Goals: 0-1 Kühlwetter 17' (assist: Schimmer), 0-2 Leipertz 61' (assist: Schimmer), 1-2 Seydel 77' (assist: Mehlem), 2-2 Tietz 81' (assist: Kempe), 3-2 Skarke 83' (assist: Schnellhardt)

All looked lost with just a quarter of an hour remaining for a Darmstadt side chasing a place at the top of the table. Christian Kühlwetter’s close-range finish and a further strike from substitute Robert Leipertz shortly after the hour mark had the visitors in command at the Stadion am Böllenfalltor. However, when Aaron Seydel ran through on goal and slotted a finish between the legs of Heidenheim ‘keeper Kevin Müller, it was suddenly game on. Phillip Tietz subsequently headed in from Tobias Kempe’s set piece to level things up before Tim Skarke’s long-range effort somehow evaded Müller to send the home fans delirious and their team to the top of the overnight standings.

Holstein Kiel 3-4 Paderborn
Goals: 0-1 Schallenberg 19’ (assist: Justvan), 1-1 Arp 23' (assist: Reese), 1-2 Thalhammer 54' (assist: Muslija), 1-3 Muslija 74' (assist: Pröger), 1-4 Collins 76' (assist: Mehlem), 2-4 Mühling (pen.) 81', 3-4 Pichler 88' (assist: Reese)

A wild game at the Holstein-Stadion almost saw the visitors give up a commanding lead at the end, but Paderborn held out to keep their feint hopes of a promotion push alive. After Kiel hit a post in the early stages, Ron Schallenberg pounced on a loose ball to fire Lukas Kwasniok’s side in front. Undeterred, the hosts responded with Fabian Reese teeing up Fiete Arp for the equaliser. Kiel were left to regret spurned chances thereafter, for a mix up in the home area allowed Paderborn to forge ahead thanks to Maximilian Thalhammer. Another error in the home defence allowed Florent Muslija to extend his team’s lead and the side from North Rhine-Westphalia appeared to be out of sight when Jamilu Collins added a fourth moments later. However, after Alexander Mühling netted a penalty and Benedikt Pichler added another, Paderborn were left sweating before the end.

Watch: #StandWithUkraine: Solidarity in Bundesliga 2 ahead of Matchday 25 kick-off

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St. Pauli 3-1 Karlsruhe
Goals: 1-0 Kyerah (14’), 2-0 Kyerah (25’), 3-0 Makienok (35’), 3-1 Hofmann (66’)

Daniel-Kofi Kyeraj scored twice as St. Pauli consolidated third spot with a comfortable 3-1 win over Karlsruhe. Kyerah broke the deadlock inside 14 minutes, scoring for the third straight match. The Ghaniain added his second soon after, a goal which stood following a VAR review. Simon Makienok stuck away a third without reply, before the offside flag denied Marcel Hartel a fourth towards the end of a wholly one-sided first half. Karlsruhe’s Philipp Hofmann reduced the arrears in the second period, but the comeback was never on.

Sandhausen 3-1 Hannover
Goals: 1-0 Okoroji (7’), 2-0 Franke (o.g. 19’), 2-1 Stolze (21’), 3-1 Bachmann (81’)

Sandhausen moved three points clear of the relegation play-spot thanks to a 3-1 home win over mid-table Hannover. Chima Okoroji was a nuisance from the outset, beating Ron-Robert Zieler with a direct corner and providing the cross which Marcel Franke put through his own net to give the hosts a commanding 2-0 lead. Sebastian Stolze’s scrambled finish cut the deficit, though the Reds had the crossbar to thank for denying Okoroji his second of the contest before the first half was up. Sandhausen continued to look the likelier scorers, before Janik Bachmann capitalised on a mistake by Niklas Hult to seal the deal.

Schalke 3-4 Hansa Rostock
Goals: 0-1 Ingelsson (25’), 1-1 Terodde (33’), 1-2 Verhoek (40’), 2-2 Terodde (43’), 2-3 Breier (56’), 3-3 Terodde (83’), 3-4 Fröling (90’+5)

Substitute Nils Fröhling scored at the last as Hansa Rostock overcame a Simon Terodde hat-trick to beat promotion hopefuls Schalke 4-3. Svante Ingelsson scored and set up John Verhoek either side of Terodde’s first of a barnstorming contest. Terodde doubled his tally to level the scores late in the half, only for Pascal Breier to restore Hansa’s lead before the hour. Terodde spurned two decent openings, before completing his hat-trick with a header that went in off the underside of the crossbar. Schalke pushed for a winner, but it was Hansa who landed the sucker-punch in the fifth minute of injury time to climb two points clear of the relegation play-off spot.

Watch: Highlights of Hansa's win at Schalke

Nuremberg 2-1 Hamburg
Goals: 1-0 Köpke (25’), 1-1 Reis (25’), 2-1 Handwerker (88’)

Nuremberg boosted their promotion prospects at the expense of Hamburg’s, courtesy of a last-gasp winner from Tim Handwerker. Pascal Köpke miscued from close range early on, but made amends with a routine finish in the 15th minute. Giorgi Chakvetadze had not long gone close for HSV, who did get on the scoresheet 10 minutes later through Ludovit Reis’ composed hit from inside the area. Chances were at a premium from thereon in, with Handwerker’s speculative strike deceiving Daniel Heuer Fernandes and deciding matters with two minutes of normal time remaining.

Fortuna Düsseldorf 3-0 Ingolstadt
Goals: 1-0 Ginczek (4’), 2-0 Zimmermann (35’), 3-0 Narey (50’)
Red card: Gaus (57’)

Düsseldorf continued their strong form under Daniel Thioune with a comfortable 3-0 win over bottom side Ingolstadt. It took the hosts only four minutes to forge ahead through Daniel Ginczek before Matthias Zimmermann and Khaled Narey took the game away from the visitors. A second yellow card for Marcel Gaus ensured there would be no sniff of a comeback and leave Die Schanzer 11 points adrift of the relegation play-off spot.

Erzgebirge Aue 1-0 Jahn Regensburg
Goal: 1-0 Owusu (23’)

Aue took advantage of Dresden’s defeat to reduce the gap to the play-off spot to seven points after Prince Osei Owusu bagged the only goal of the game against Regensburg. It ended a run of 10 matches without victory, while Regensburg continued their slide and are now only six points above 16th, in 10th.

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