Bundesliga 2, Matchday 27: St. Pauli, Holstein Kiel going strong as Hamburg drop Easter Sunday points
Another spectacular weekend in Bundesliga 2 saw leaders St. Pauli strengthen their grip on top spot with victory against the ten men of Paderborn while second-placed Holstein Kiel also celebrated a win. Fortuna Düsseldorf, meanwhile, took advantage of Hamburg's draw at Greuther Fürth to go third.
St. Pauli 2-1 Paderborn
Goals: 1-0 Hartel 32', 2-0 Ritzka 47', 2-1 Grimaldi 56'
Red card: Grimaldi 72'
The hosts maintained their impressive pace at the top of the standings and are now five points clear at the summit thanks to their 16th win of the season. Marcel Hartel latched onto to Jackson Irvine's assist before applying an exquisite finish for 1-0. Lars Ritzka's super strike from distance doubled the Kiezkicker's lead after the break and although Adriano Grimaldi reduced the arrears for Paderborn, his subsequent sending off spurned the visitors' hopes of a fightback.
Greuther Fürth 1-1 Hamburg
Goals: 0-1 Muheim 56', 1-1 Consbruch 77'
HSV gave up a lead and lost third spot in the table as a consequence as Fürth fought back to salvage a point at the Sportpark Ronhof. Having bounced back from successive defeats with victory against Wehen Wiesbaden last time out, Steffen Baumgart's men looked on course for a third straight triumph thanks to an impressive second-half display that was rewarded with a fine Miro Muheim goal before the hour mark. The Cloverleaves had previously lost their way with six losses in seven games, but they hit back here with a spectacular Jomaine Consbruch effort that secured a share of the spoils.
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The Royal Blues remain precariously placed just three points above the automatic drop zone but Karel Geraerts's side will take the positives from holding a Karlsruhe side still in with a shot of promotion to a scoreless draw. Both sides had chances to win a closely-fought contest at the Veltins-Arena but in the end, the spoils were shared.
Wehen Wiesbaden 0-1 Osnabrück
Goals: 0-1 Conteh 31'
Red card: Cuisance 90'
Osnabrück's Mickaël Cuisance was sent off before the end of this contest but that didn't prevent the division's bottom-placed side celebrating only their fourth win of the campaign. Christian Joe Conteh scored the game's only goal with a shot from the edge of the box, and the three points gained here against the side they won promotion alongside last term kept the visitors' slim hopes of survival this season alive.
Magdeburg 0-3 Hannover
Goals: 0-1 Dehm 29', 0-2 Muroya 84', 0-3 Teuchert 90'+5
Hannover fans were celebrating a significant win away to Magdeburg that put their opponents in a perilous position while raising the visitors' chances of making it to the Bundesliga. Up to fifth place after this victory - which came courtesy of goals from Jannik Dehm, Sei Muroya and Cedric Teuchert - Hannover can look ahead to next week's challenge against Schalke with optimism.
Kaiserslautern 1-3 Fortuna Düsseldorf
Goals: 1-0 Ritter (26'), 1-1 Tzolis (74'), 1-2 Appelkamp (76'), 1-3 Tzolis (82')
Fortuna boosted their promotion hopes with a dramatic late comeback. Kaiserslautern grabbed the lead when Marlon Ritter turned a cross from Tymoteusz Puchacz into the net. While the visitors upped the pressure at the start of the second period there was little sign of what was to come until Jona Niemiec raced clear of the Kaiserslautern defence and teed up Christos Tzolis to tap in and equalise. Shinta Appelkamp then pounced before Tzolis completed an eight-minute brace for Fortuna's third win in a row that lifted them into the promotion play-off spot and left Lautern mired in the relegation battle in 16th before the pair feature in DFB Cup semi-final action during the week.
Holstein Kiel 2-0 Hansa Rostock
Goals: 1-0 Skrzybski (3'), 2-0 Holtby (57')
Kiel kept their promotion bid on track with a routine home win over struggling Rostock. The Storks enjoyed a perfect start when Shuto Machino poked a brilliant ball through for Steven Skrzybski to slot his side into the lead with his ninth goal of the season. Kiel dominated a game with few chances after that, with Lewis Holtby sealing the points by pouncing on a rebound just before the hour mark after Philipp Sander's shot was parried away. While the hosts' third successive win kept them six points clear of Düsseldorf, Rostock dropped down to 17th spot.
Eintracht Braunschweig 5-0 Elversberg
Goals: 1-0 Krauße (7'), 2-0 Bičakčić (45+2'), 3-0 Kurucay (80'), 4-0 Krüger (90+1'), 5-0 Kurucay (90+3')
Braunschweig took their second consecutive win in emphatic fashion to lift themselves out of the relegation zone. Robin Krauße set the tone with an unstoppable header from a Thórir Jóhann Helgason corner and Ermin Bičakčić bundled in a second goal from a corner shortly before the break. Hasan Kurucay slotted a penalty in on the 80-minute mark before two stoppage-time strikes provided the cherry on top for the hosts. The win sent Braunschweig up to 15th, two points clear of Rostock in 17th.
Hertha Berlin 3-3 Nuremberg
Goals: 0-1 Uzun 14', 0-2 Schleimer 33', 1-2 Winkler 44', 1-3 Uzun 47', 2-3 Tabaković 54', 3-3 Tabaković 56'
Watch: The top 5 goals from Matchday 27
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