2. Bundesliga
Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer and Laszlo Benes got the goals as Hamburg kept up their good start with a 2-0 victory at Arminia Bielefeld, who are still pointless after four matchdays.
Arminia Bielefeld 2-0 Hamburg
Goals: 0-1 Königsdörffer 28’ (assist: Kittel), 0-2 Benes 74‘ (assist: Reis)
The game took on the expected pattern with Hamburg seeing the majority of the possession, but clear-cut chances remained rare in the afternoon heat of Bielefeld. Despite HSV’s attacking intentions, it was a mistake at the back by the hosts that allowed Die Rothosen to forge ahead when Oliver Hüsing got in a muddle at the back and played the ball straight to Sonny Kittel. He immediately found Königsdörffer free in the box to finish. The visitors almost had a second when Mario Vuskovic struck the crossbar from 18 yards. Robert Glatzel then fired an effort straight at Stefanos Kapino with the final move of the half.
Arminia came out much improved and saw the majority of chances without testing Daniel Heuer Fernandes. The HSV goalkeeper was called into action to make a smart stop from close range against Ferderik Jäkel. Moments later, Hamburg went up the other end and wrapped up the points with a lovely finish from the edge of the box by substitute and summer signing Benes. It takes HSV onto nine points from their opening four games and well in the early-season hunt for promotion. Bielefeld remain deep in trouble without a single point.
Match stats
Bielefeld: Kapino - Sidler (Bello 62’), Jäkel, Hüsing, Oczipka (Ramos 78’) - Vasiliadis (Kanuric 62’), Rzatkowski (Krüger 78’) - Okugawa (Lasme 67’), Hack - Klos, Serra
Unused subs: Schulz, Klünter, Consbruch, Andrade
Out: Prietl (knee)
Coach: Uli Forte
Hamburg: Heuer Fernandes - Heyer, Vuskovic, Schonlau (c), Muheim - Rohr (Benes 62’), Meffert, Reis - Königsdörffer (David 89’), Glatzel (Megeed 89’), Kittel (Opoku 77’)
Unused subs: Raab, Bilbija, Leibold, Heil, Andresen
Out: Jatta (fitness)
Coach: Tim Walter
Matchday 4 round-up:
Nuremberg 0-3 Heidenheim
Goals: 0-1 Thomalla (44'), 0-2 Beck (49'), Beste (80')
Heidenheim extended their impressive start to the season with an emphatic 3-0 win at Nuremberg. Denis Thomalla put last season's beaten play-off participants ahead just shy of half-time, turning in Föhrenbach's cross from the left. Adrian Beck doubled Heidenheim's lead early in the second half, taking advantage of some hesitant Nuremberg defending, and Jan-Niklas Beste sealed the deserved win ten minutes from time, pouncing on another defensive mistake to strike into the top right-hand corner.
Kaiserslautern 0-1 Paderborn
Goal: 0-1 Platte (82')
Red card: Zuck (49')
Paderborn brought an end to Kaiserslautern's unbeaten start to the season with a 1-0 win over the ten-man Red Devils at their Fritz Walter Stadion. It was an even game between two sides who had made strong starts to the season, but it turned the guests' way when Hendrick Zuck was shown a red card for stopping a clear goalscoring opportunity early in the second half. The hosts tried to dig in, but being a man down eventually told when Platte raced in to tuck in the rebound after Luthe could only parry Justvan's volley.
Holstein Kiel 3-0 Eintracht Braunschweig
Goals: 1-0 Skrzybski (12'), 2-0 Skrzybski (73'), 3-0 Pichler (82')
Holstein Kiel extended their unbeaten start to the season with a comfortable 3-0 win over Eintracht Braunschweig, who remain rooted to the bottom of the table after their fourth straight defeat, and are still waiting for their first goal of the season. Scoring has not been a problem for Kiel, though, and they showed that with their seventh of the season, Steven Skrzybski's strike going in off the post. He added his and Kiel's second, leaving Fejzic no chance with his shot on the turn, and Benedikt Pichler sealed the win, meeting Reese's cross for a goal which was confirmed after a lengthy offside check.
Karlsruhe 3-2 Sandhausen
Goals: 0-1 Kinsombi (10'), 1-1 Batmaz (32'), 1-2 Kutucu (61'), 2-2 Rapp (84'), 3-2 Cueto (87')
Karlsruhe recovered from falling behind twice to beat Sandhausen and register their first win of the season. David Kinsombi put the guests in front with an unchallenged run and finish from the edge of the area, but Karlsruhe levelled after half an hour when Malik Batmaz scored with a strikingly similar effort. Ahmed Kutucu gave the guests a somewhat fortunate lead after an hour, but after Simone Rapp brought the hosts level again, there was only going to be one winner at the BBBank Wildparkstadion. Lucas Cueto followed Rapp's example to spring from the bench and score the winner, drilling his effort unstoppably into the far corner.
Darmstadt 4-0 Hansa Rostock
Goals: 1-0 Tietz (3'), 2-0 Mehlmen (18'), 3-0 Tietz (54'), 4-0 Kempe pen. (74')
Philipp Tietz was at the double as Darmstadt made light work of Hansa Rostock to make it three wins from four for Torsten Lieberknecht's side. The first of Tietz's goals came just three minutes in as he pounced on a dawdling Markus Kolke and stabbed home, with the Rostock 'keeper caught completely unaware. Marvin Mehlmen's smart finish from the edge of the box made it 2-0 at half-time, before Tietz headed home from a corner to add a third less than 10 minutes after the break. Darmstadt's fourth came via the penalty spot as Tobias Kempe converted from 12-yards after substitute Oscar Vilhelmsson was uprooted in the box by a clumsy Ryan Malone tackle.
Fortuna Düsseldorf 2-2 Greuther Fürth
Goals: 0-1 Hrgota (43'), 1-1 Hoffmann (62'), 2-1 Kownacki (72'), 2-2 Hrgota pen. (78')
Two penalties at either end of the match bookended a thrilling draw in Düsseldorf. The hosts were first presented the chance to take the lead 10 minutes before the break, but Rouwen Hennings' spot-kick was denied by the feet of Greuther goalie Andreas Linde, who was awarded a free-kick from the resulting rebound as Hennings fouled the 29-year-old before stabbing over the line. Greuther were then level on the stroke of half-time as Branimir Hrgota latched onto Julian Green's excellent through ball and lifted beyond Kastenmeier and into the back of the net. Fortuna eventually found an equaliser with just under half an hour remaining thanks to Andre Hoffmann's towering header and they were ahead 10 minutes later with a second headed goal, this time courtesy of Dawid Kownacki. Unfortunately for Fortuna, Hrgota converted a late spot kick to ensure a share of the spoils.
Watch: Fortuna Düsseldorf 2-2 Greuther Fürth
St. Pauli 3-0 Magdeburg
Goals: 1-0 Eggestein (4'), 2-0 Eggestein (14'), 3-0 Hartel (77')
Having conceded six goals in their first three second division matches and being hit for four by Eintracht Frankfurt in the DFB Cup, Magdeburg opened the season in leaky fashion and took just four minutes to concede at Pauli. The home side swept themselves in front after neat passing from Lukas Daschner and Leart Paqarada that saw the latter free Johannes Eggestein, who shot across goal on his left-foot and fond the back of the net. Eggestein made it 2-0 inside the opening quarter by meeting Manos Saliakas' cross with an excellent header from 15-yards out. Magdeburg skipper Amara Conde rattled the bar shortly after half-time as the away side looked for a way back into the match but they would have no such luck and Marcel Hartel added further gloss with 13 minutes to play.
Hannover 1-0 Jahn Regensburg
Goals: 1-0 Breitkreuz o.g. (83')
Hannover started the weekend on just one point from the first three rounds of matches, while Regensburg sat top going into Matchday 4 after collecting two wins and a draw from their unbeaten start to the campaign. It looked as if the visitors would soon reaffirm their place at the summit when Andreas Albers had the ball in the back of the net just before half-time, but his celebrations were cut short by the offside flag. The game appeared to be headed for a goalless draw until the home side found a way through in the final seven minutes, as Regensburg defender Steve Breitkreuz deflected Antonio Fonti's strike into his own net to give Hannover their first win of the season.