Fortuna Düsseldorf dealt a big blow to Hamburg's automatic promotion hopes. - © Frederic Scheidemann

2. Bundesliga

Bundesliga 2, Matchday 25: Leaders St. Pauli beat Hertha Berlin, Hamburg lose to Fortuna Düsseldorf, Schalke rescue draw against Paderborn

11.03.2024

Hamburg promotion hopes suffered a setback as they lost 2-0 to rivals Fortuna Düsseldorf, Schalke rescued a late draw with Paderborn in a thriller on Saturday, while leaders St. Pauli comfortably beat Hertha Berlin on Sunday.

Eintracht Braunschweig 0-1 Hansa Rostock
Goals: 0-1 Schumacher (72')

Hansa Rostock secured a crucial victory away at fellow relegation rivals Eintracht Braunschweig to move out of the bottom two, leapfrogging Die Löwen in the process. The away team were the better side throughout, although it took until midway through the second period for them to grab the winner as Kevin Schumacher headed Kai Pröger's cross home. This result puts an end to a run of five games without success for Rostock, while Braunschweig sit 17th after a run of four winless outings.

Fortuna Düsseldorf 2-0 Hamburg
Goals: 1-0 Klaus (11'), 2-0 Tzolis (63')
Red cards: Heyer (51')

Ten-man HSV's hopes of promotion were dealt a further blow as they suffered a 2-0 defeat to rivals Fortuna Düsseldorf. The hosts looked to sit back and attack on the counterattack, which they did to devastating effect within the opening quarter-hour as Felix Klaus buried Christos Tzolis' pass. HSV began to threaten towards the end of the first half, but they were dealt a setback shortly following the restart when Moritz Heyer received a second yellow card. Düsseldorf then doubled their advantage with Tzolis turning goalscorer, slotting home around the hour mark. Düsseldorf are now just one point adrift of Hamburg, with this their fifth game in a row unbeaten. Steffen Baumgart's men, meanwhile, have now lost three of their last five.

Holstein Kiel 1-0 Karlsruhe
Goals: 1-0 Holtby (57')

Kiel were hoping to put further daylight between them and third-place Hamburg after the latter’s defeat the night before, taking on a Karlsruhe outfit still looking to make an outside bid at promotion themselves. There was little to separate the two teams in a goalless first-half but Kiel eventually broke the deadlock just before the hour mark. That goal proved to be the winner, helping Kiel to open up a five-point gap to HSV.

Wehen Wiesbaden 1-1 Hannover
Goals: 1-0 Prtajin (33'), 1-1 Voglsammer (54')

Two goals either side of half-time saw Wehen and Hannover share a hard-fought 1-1 draw on Saturday. Ivan Prtajin gave Wiesbaden the lead just before the break, controlling and firing home from close range to but the home side 1-0 up. However, Hannover struck back shortly after the interval thanks to substitute Andreas Voglsammer’s effort just two minutes after climbing off the bench.

Schalke 3-3 Paderborn
Goals: 1-0 Karaman (32'), 2-0 Lasme (50'), 2-1 Zehnter (60), 2-2 Kinsombi (78'), 2-3 Klaas (86), 3-3 Topp (90'+2)

A madcap match in Schalke saw the hosts earn a dramatic draw in injury-time having earlier held a 2-0 lead. Searching for a fourth straight win at the Veltins Arena, Schalke went ahead when Kenan Karaman converted from the penalty spot and they looked to be home and dry after Bryan Lasme doubled their advantage five minutes into the second-half. Paderborn flipped the game on its head though, with three goals in 20 minutes as Aaron Zehnter, David Kinsombi and then Sebastian Klaas gave them the lead with four minutes to play. That should have wrapped up the points but 19-year-old striker Keke Topp eventually rescued a point for the hosts with a dramatic, 92nd-minute equaliser.

Magdeburg 0-1 Nuremberg
Goals: 0-1 Uzun (80')

Nuremberg produced a veritable smash and grab at Magdeburg on Saturday night, where 18-year-old striker Can Yilmaz Uzun continued his excellent campaign by hitting the winner with 10 minutes remaining. While the hosts dominated the majority of the game, the visitors had two first-half goals ruled out for offside prior to the heroics of their teenage upstart. The win means Nuremberg are now just five points off third-place.

St. Pauli 2-0 Hertha Berlin
Goals: 1-0 Saliakas (16'), 2-0 Hartel (44')

Setting out to restore their five-point advantage at the top, Pauli were soon in front after quarter of an hour’s play. Manolis Saliakas was the man with the early breakthrough, lashing home a deflected effort to put his side ahead. They were 2-0 ahead on the stroke of half-time, Marcel Hartel chipping in with his 13th league goal of an excellent campaign. That was enough to wrap up the points and maintain Pauli's grip on top spot.

Kaiserslautern 3-2 Osnabrück
Goals: 0-1 Engelhardt (48'), 1-1 Ache (66‘), 1-2 Engelhardt (69‘), 2-2 Simakala (78'), 3-2 Ache (90'+2)

Kaiserslautern twice came from behind to claim a dramatic win over rock-bottom Osnabrück on Sunday. After a goalless first half, the away side flew out the traps at the start of the second period and broke the deadlock thanks to Erik Engelhardt’s close-range finish. Ragner Ache eventually drew his side level but Engelhardt restored Osnabrück’s lead just three minutes later. Ba-Muaka Simakala then looked to have earned Lautern a point before Ache’s second stole all three.

Greuther Fürth 1-4 Elversberg
Goals: 0-1 Stock (25’), 1-1 Srbeny (61'), 1-2 Stock (72'), 1-3 Stock (82'), 1-4 Martinović (87')
Red card: Wagner (49')

A Paul Stock hat-trick earned Elversberg a surprise win at Fürth, where Stock gave the visitors the lead with their first shot on target. The hosts were reduced to 10 players after the turnaround when Robert Wagner was given his marching orders for a second yellow card, but the Cloverleaves were handed a way back into the game as away goalkeeper Nicolas Kristof’s attempted pass was diverted into the back of the net by Dennis Srbeny. Ultimately, Elversberg made the extra man count as Stock struck twice more and Dominik Martinović added a fourth.