Bundesliga 2, Matchday 13 highlights: Setbacks for Hamburg, St. Pauli and Schalke
Second-placed Hamburg were beaten by Kiel in a thrilling encounter after leaders St. Pauli were held by Hannover and Schalke lost to Elversberg.
Matchday 13 results
Pauli extended their unbeaten start to the season to 13 matches, but missed the chance to move further clear of promotion rivals Hamburg with a goalless draw against Hannover. The Kiezkicker dominated against the third-placed visitors, but could not find a way through. Johannes Eggestein was foiled by Ron-Robert Zieler in the first half, while Eric Smith put a promising headed chance wide with 67 minutes gone. Eggestein landed a late header onto the roof of the net as Pauli played out their sixth draw of the campaign.
Schalke 1-2 Elversberg
Goals: 0-1 Stock 7', 0-2 Rochelt 21', 1-2 Karaman 35'
Schalke's mini-revival came to an end at the hands of promoted Elversberg. After back-to-back league wins over Hannover and Nuremberg, the Royal Blues found themselves up against it after conceding twice inside the opening 21 minutes. Paul Stock and Jannik Rochelt got the goals before Kenan Karaman headed in a corner to reduce the arrears. The Schalke midfielder passed up three inviting opportunities to level, the third because of a fine save by Nicolas Kristof. Substitute Keke Topp went within a whisker of an equaliser as Schalke fell to their eighth league defeat since their relegation from the Bundesliga.
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Paderborn 1-3 Nuremberg
Goals: 0-1 Castrop 8', 0-2 Okunuki 39', 0-3 Schleimer 44', 1-3 Grimaldi 78'
Red card: Castrop 61'
The two sides both went into the encounter on 18 points in a dense Bundesliga 2 mid-table pack, but the visitors ran out comprehensive winners despite playing the final 30 minutes with ten men. Jens Castrop, Japan's Kanji Okunuki and Lukas Schleimer all found the net in a dominant first half for Nuremberg. The opening goalscorer was sent off for a late challenge on Sebastian Klaas, but despite Paderborn making every effort to get back into the tie, they only had a late Adriano Grimaldi headed goal to show for 24 shots in total.
Eintracht Braunschweig 3-2 Osnabrück
Goals: 1-0 Gómez 11', 1-1 Cuisance (pen.) 45', 2-1 Donkor 71', 2-2 Engelhardt (pen.) 87', 3-2 Bičakčić 90'
Red card: Cuisance 60'
Eintracht Braunschweig lifted themselves off the bottom of the Bundesliga 2 table thanks to a dramatic last-gasp winner against Osnabrück in a battle of the basement. American Johan Gómez fired the hosts into a deserved lead but Mickaël Cuisance equalised from the penalty spot in first-half stoppage time. The visitors' goalscorer got sent off on the hour-mark, however, picking up his second yellow card for failing to retreat from a Braunschweig free-kick. The hosts seemed to be on course for a relatively comfortable win after an Anton Donkor strike from close range, but Donkor then handled the ball in the area in the final minutes to allow Erik Engelhardt to equalise from the spot. Ermin Bičakčić then bundled the ball in during the eighth minute of stoppage time, and after a lengthy VAR check, the goal was allowed to stand and the final whistle sounded to send the home fans wild.
Holstein Kiel 4-2 Hamburg
Goals: 1-0 Skrzybski (pen.) 20', 2-0 Pichler 57', 2-1 Glatzel 71', 2-2 Glatzel 80', 3-2 Porath 83', 4-2 Sterner 88'
Third-placed Kiel gave their promotion hopes a boost by closing out a thrilling win over second-placed Hamburg. The visitors would have gone level with points with local rivals St. Pauli with an away win, but it soon became clear they were set for a difficult afternoon. Steven Skrzybski gave the hosts the lead from a penalty, and The Storks had several chances to extend their single-goal half-time lead. A splendid Benedikt Pichler finish doubled the hosts' lead before a quick-fire Robert Glatzel headed brace hauled Hamburg level - only for late Finn Porath and Jonas Sterner strikes to seal the thrilling win and move Kiel within a point of Hamburg.
Hertha Berlin 2-2 Karlsruhe
Goals: 0-1 Zeefuik (o.g. 10’), 1-1 Reese (29’), 2-1 Niederlechner (42’), 2-2 Jensen (81’)
Neither side were able to put daylight between themselves and the relegation zone on Matchday 13 as they shared the points at the Olympiastadion. Karlsruhe went in front early on following Deyovaisio Zeefuik’s own goal, but Hertha fought back and seized control of the match thanks to first-half strikes from Fabian Reese and Florian Niederlechner. The hosts created numerous chances to put the game to bed in the second half, but after failing to convert any of them, Leon Jensen struck late on to snatch a point for Karlsruhe.
Magdeburg 1-2 Hansa Rostock
Goals: 1-0 Bockhorn (4'), 1-1 Dressel (46'), 1-2 Krempicki o.g. (86')
Magdeburg were given the perfect start when Herbert Bockhorn's first goal of the season gace them a fourth-minute lead, one they carried into the second-half. They had soon given it up after the break, though, as Dennis Dressel's effort squirmed under Dominik Reimann and into the back of the net within less than a minute of the restart. Reimann was then caught under Alexander Rossipal's later corner, which went in via a combination of the post and an unfortunate Connor Krempicki, ensuring the visitors leapfrogged their hosts with all three points.
Greuther Fürth 1-0 Fortuna Düsseldorf
Goals: 1-0 Wagner (48')
Greturher Fürth moved level with Fortuna Düsseldorf, and within two points of the top-three, with a narrow victory on Sunday. After a goalless first-half, Robert Wagner broke the deadlock three minutes after the restart by bursting into the box and latching onto Tim Lemperle's excellent cutback from the left. It proved to be the winner, a third in succession in the league for Freuther and fourth on the bounce at home.
Wehen Wiesbaden 2-1 Kaiserslautern
Goals: 0-1 Ritter (39'), 1-1 Soldo o.g. (51'), 2-1 Prtajin (65')
Wiesbaden's superb start to the season continued with a come-from-behind win over Kaiserslautern, which moved the home side into seventh-place. Lautern had taken the advantage five minutes before the break through Marlon Ritter's fourth strike of the campaign but found themselves pegged back quickly once the second-half was underway. Thijmen Goppel was the man who grabbed the equaliser, thanks to a hefty deflection from Nikola Soldo's swinging left peg. Another deflection, this time more intential, sealed the points thanks to Ivan Prtajin's excellent chested finish.
Watch: The top 5 goals on Matchday 13
Click here for the Bundesliga 2 table
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