St. Pauli won 2-1 away at Hertha Berlin to go top of the Bundesliga 2 table on goal difference above Hamburg. - © IMAGO/Beautiful Sports

2. Bundesliga

Bundesliga 2, Matchday 8: Hamburg leapfrog Fortuna Düsseldorf, St. Pauli go top

02.10.2023

HSV went ahead of Fortuna Düsseldorf with victory on Friday, while St. Pauli claimed top spot after beating Hertha Berlin on Saturday evening.

Click the play buttons below to watch highlights from each game

Hamburg 1-0 Fortuna Düsseldorf
Goal: 1-0 Bénes (pen, 83')

Hamburg returned to winning ways on following back-to-back defeats against Elversberg and Osnabrück, with László Bénes netting late on to secure all three points for HSV. The hosts were on top for much of the game but struggled to break down their disciplined guests, who were defending top spot in the standings going into this weekend. The game appeared to be heading for a draw until Emmanuel Iyoha felled Bénes inside the box in the closing stages, with the Slovakia international making no mistake from the spot to fire his side above Düsseldorf.

Paderborn 3-1 Schalke
Goals: 1-0 Platte (43'), 2-0 Muslija (53'), 3-0 Muslija (76'), 3-1 Kabadayi (90'+9)

Paderborn climbed away from the relegation zone with a deserved win over a struggling Schalke side on Friday, with the Royal Blues playing their first game under Matthias Kreutzer following the dismissal of Thomas Reis during the week. Former Schalke striker Felix Platte opened the scoring just before half-time with a close-range header, and Florent Muslija doubled the hosts' advantage early in the second half from the penalty spot. Muslija put the outcome of the game beyond all doubt with his second in the 76th minute, rendering a stoppage-time strike from Yusuf Kabadayi little more than a consolation for Schalke.

Karlsruhe 0-2 Holstein Kiel
Goals: 0-1 Pichler (24'), 0-2 Rothe (27')

Kiel moved up into fourth place in the table, just one point adrift of league-leaders Pauli and Hamburg, thanks to a 2-0 victory away at Karlsruhe. Although the hosts had a couple of early chances, their opponents opened the scoring shortly after the midway point of the half with their first effort through Benedikt Pichler, before Tom Rothe headed home Lewis Holtby's corner just three minutes later. The defeat sees Karlsruhe move down to 14th thanks to their inferior goal difference compared to Greuther Fürth.

Hannover 2-0 Wehen Wiesbaden
Goals: 1-0 Nielsen (11'), 2-0 Köhn (74')

Hannover's 2-0 victory over Wiesbaden, their third in their last four Bundesliga 2 matches, saw them move into the promotion play-off spot. They had the lead after just 11 minutes, when Håvard Nielsen headed home completely unmarked. Die Roten had to wait for their second but, with just over 15 minutes remaining, Derrick Köhn buried a scuffed shot at the back post to put the result beyond doubt.

Hansa Rostock 1-0 Eintracht Braunschweig
Goals: 1-0 van der Werff (87')

Braunschweig remain in the relegation zone following a narrow 1-0 defeat away at Hansa Rostock. The game appeared to be meandering towards a goalless draw but, with full-time fast approaching, Jasper van der Werff headed Alexander Rossipal's corner into the bottom corner to send the home crowd into raptures. Rostock now sit eighth, having won half of their eight league matches so far this season.

Hertha Berlin 1-2 St. Pauli
Goals: 0-1 Eggestein (25’), 0-2 Hartel (74’), 1-2 Scherhant (83’)

St. Pauli moved above city rivals Hamburg at the top of the Bundesliga 2 after collecting a third straight league victory, this time away at Hertha on Saturday. Johannes Eggestein paved the way for the points with his strike midway through the first half, before Marcel Hartel added to the scoreline with his header in the closing stages. However, a mistake by Jackson Irvine allowed Hertha to gain a lifeline, with Derry Scherhant reducing the deficit to set up a grandstand final few minutes. The visitors held on though and claimed their fourth win of the campaign.

Nuremberg 1-0 Magdeburg
Goal: 1-0 Lohkemper (46')

Nuremberg got their first win in a month thanks to super-sub Felix Lohkemper. The former Magdeburg man struck the only goal of the game at the Max-Morlock-Stadion barely 60 seconds after coming on at half-time, heading in a Jan Gyamerah cross. He was nearly involved in a second when Benjamin Goller chipped in shortly after the hour mark, but it was chalked off for handball in the build-up by Lohkemper. A second defeat of the season sees Christian Titz's team slip to seventh in the table, ahead of Der Club in eighth on goal difference.

Elversberg 1-1 Greuther Fürth
Goals: 1-0 Feil (9'), 1-1 Hrgota (14')

Promoted Elversberg dropped back into the bottom half of the table but extended their unbeaten run to four games thanks to a 1-1 draw at home to Fürth. The hosts went ahead early on when Manuel Feil put away a cross flicked on to the far post. Greuther had an immediate response, however, when Branimir Hrgota found the bottom corner only five minutes later. Clear-cut chances remained at a premium after that as the pair settled for a point each.

Osnabrück 2-2 Kaiserslautern
Goals: 1-0 Engelhardt (17'), 2-0 Cuisance (pen, 37'), 2-1 Niehues (45'+2), 2-2 Tomiak (90'+8)

Osnabrück remain bottom of the table after squandering a two-goal lead and seeing goalkeeper Lennart Grill save two penalties as Kaiserslautern hit back with goals in added time of each half. The Red Devils had the chance to go ahead inside 15 minutes but Grill denied Kevin Kraus from the spot and on the rebound. Erik Engelhardt then put the hosts ahead before Mickaël Cuisance converted a penalty of his own to double the advantage. That was halved right before the break when Julian Niehues headed in a corner. More drama came in added time of the second half when Grill - a former Kaiserslautern youth player - again saved a penalty and follow-up from Terrence Boyd. However, the visitors would finally level eight minutes beyond the 90 when Boris Tomiak put away the last of a string of corners and snatch a point.