2. Bundesliga
Khaled Narey and Rouwen Hennings turned the tables on Schalke as Fortuna Düsseldorf came from behind to win their first game in six, on Daniel Thioune's debut as their new head coach.
Düsseldorf 2-1 Schalke
Goals: 1-0 Idrizi 42' (assist: Zalazar), 1-1 Narey (47'), 2-1 Hennings 56' (assist: Narey)
There was a spring in the step of Fortuna in their first game under new coach Daniel Thioune, and Daniel Ginczek nearly crowned an excellent opening 15 minutes for the hosts when he headed against the post from a corner, and Jordy de Wijs' shot on the rebound was blocked away for another corner. Fortuna continued to probe and Narey met a cross at the far post, but missed the target, before Zimmermann struck a shot over from distance. Against the run of play, Schalke snatched the lead with Rodrigo Zalazar's cross being missed by Simon Terodde, but not Blendy Idrizi at the far post, stunning the Merkur Spielarena into silence.
With Fortuna's goal drought now into its eighth hour, and their confidence further dented by that goal, few would have seen a goal coming, but Narey had other ideas. Kaminski was favourite to a loose ball, but the Fortuna winger burst passed him, picked his pocket and tucked a shot low into the bottom left-hand corner. The relief was palpable and after Hennings squandered a gilt-edged opportunity to give the hosts the lead, he took his next chance from Narey's cut-back to turn in his 10th of the season, and turn the tables on Schalke.
Line-ups
Fortuna: Kastenmeier – Zimmermann, Hoffmann, de Wijs, Gavory (Hartherz 83') – Piotrowski, Sobottka (Bozenik 75'), Narey, Ginczek (Tanaka 75'), Appelkamp (Klarer 86') – Hennings (Klaus 87')
Unused subs: Wolf, Oberdorf, Pledl, Lobinger
Out: Bodzek (match fitness), Iyoha (muscular), Peterson (suspended), Prib (muscular)
Coach: Daniel Thioune
Schalke: Fraisl – Thiaw (Sane 86'), Itakura, Kaminski - Palsson (c) - Bülter, Zalazar (Rzatkoswki 86'), Idrizi (Lee 60'), Ouwejan - Terodde, Pieringer (Churlinov 60')
Unused subs: Fährmann, Lode, Matriciani, Flick, Mikhailow
Out: Aydin (hamstring), Drexler (muscular), Langer (knee), Vindheim (calf)
Coach: Dimitrios Grammozis
Matchday 22 round-up
Hansa Rostock 1-2 Werder Bremen
Goals: 0-1 Ducksch (54’), 0-2 Füllkrug (74’), 1-2 Meißner (83’)
Werder Bremen enjoyed a brief spell at the Bundesliga 2 summit on Friday thanks to a 2-1 win at Hansa Rostock. Mitchell Weiser passed up the only goal-scoring chance of a one-sided first half, with Hansa not testing Jiri Pavlenka until early in the second period through Nils Fröling. The chance didn’t do the hosts much good, though, as Marvin Ducksch broke the deadlock with the next attack. Pavlenka was made to work once more, before Niclas Füllkrug gave Werder daylight. Thomas Meißner’s close-range effort in the 83rd minute came too late to deny the Green-Whites a seventh straight league victory.
Erzgebirge Aue 2-3 Holstein Kiel
Goals: 0-1 Bartels (19’), 0-2 Gonther (o.g. 38’), 1-2 Trujic (79’), 2-2 Hochscheidt 84’), 2-3 Wriedt (90’)
Former Bayern Munich forward Kwasi Wriedt scored a 90th minute winner as Holstein Kiel snuck a dramatic win over 10-man Erzgebirge Aue. Fin Bartels and a Sören Gonther own goal had Kiel 2-0 up after 38 minutes, and it went from bad to worse for Aue before the half was up as Soufiane Messeguem was shown a straight red card. Despite the numerical disadvantage, the home side rallied and found themselves level going into the final six minutes of normal time thanks to quick-fire Nikola Trujic and Jan Hochscheidt goals, only for Wriedt to bundle Kiel back in front at the death.
Jahn Regensburg 2-3 St. Pauli
Goals: 0-1 Amenyido (7’), 0-2 Burgstaller (pen. 11’), 1-2 Albers (56’), 1-3 Kyerah (66’), 2-3 Otto (73’)
St. Pauli ended a four-match winless run, thanks to a table-topping victory over Jahn Regensburg. The Hamburg-based outfit were 2-0 up inside 11 minutes thanks to quick-fire Etienne Amenyido and Guido Burgstaller, the latter converting a penalty won by the former. Despite creating a hatful of chances, Pauli didn’t add to their lead until midway through the second half. Daniel-Kofi Kyerah was the scorer, with an effort that sandwiched Regensburg goals from Andreas Albers and David Otto. Luckily for Pauli, their profligacy - including a late miss from substitute forward Igor Matanovic - didn’t come back to haunt them.
Watch: Regensburg 2-3 St. Pauli highlights
Hamburg 2-0 Heidenheim
Goals: 1-0 Kittel (63’), 2-0 Kittel (78’)
Sonny Kittel’s second-half brace fired promotion-chasing Hamburg to victory over Heidenheim. Daniel Heuer Fernandes spared his own blushes with an early recovery save from Heidenheim’s Dzenis Burnic, before HSV tested visiting goalkeeper Kevin Müller for the first time through Bakery Jatta. Heidenheim’s Oliver Hüsing had a goal ruled out following a VAR review, while Miro Muheim thwarted Tobias Mohr as the visitors pushed hard for the opening goal, only to be undone by Kittel’s late show. The Hamburg talisman became the club’s record Bundesliga 2 scorer with two goals in the space of 15 minutes - his 25th and 26th at this level for the Red Shorts - to keep the Dinos firmly in contention for a return to the big time.
Hannover 2-2 Darmstadt
Goals: 0-1 Stolze (o.g. 18’), 1-1 Teuchert (35’), 2-1 Börner (50’), 2-2 Seydel (61’)
Promotion-hunting Darmstadt remain just a point off top spot but they will be eager to return to winning ways sooner rather than later if they are to stay in the chase, after dropping points for a second successive week. They appeared on course to put the 5-0 Matchday 21 defeat at home by Hamburg behind them when they took an early lead in Hanover through a Sebastian Stolze own goal. However, the hosts hit back and turned the game on its head with efforts from Cedric Teuchert and Julian Börner. The Lillies did manage to rescue a point though as substitute Aaron Seydel equalised just moments after coming onto the pitch.
Karlsruhe 4-1 Nuremberg
Goals: 0-1 Geis (29'), 1-1 Hofmann (39'), 2-1 Goller (55'), 3-1 Hofmann (59'), 4-1 Wanitzek (pen. 90')
Karlsruhe threw a spanner in the wheel of Nuremberg's promotion hopes with a 4-1 win over the Bavarians on Saturday. Johannes Geis gave the guests the lead with a direct free-kick. Tim Handwerker almost doubled their lead moments before Philipp Hofmann brought Karlsruhe level with a volley. Benjamin Goller gave the hosts the lead before Hofmann's second put them firmly in the driving seat. Marvin Wanitzek then sealed the win with a penalty in the last minute after Asger Sorensen had fouled Fabian Schleusener in the area.
Paderborn 0-0 Dynamo Dresden
Paderborn failed to break down a stubborn Dynamo Dresden side with a goalless draw suiting the guests much more than the East Westphalians. Paderborn were the more dangerous side throughout, but they were limited to shots from distance as a well-drilled Dresden held a firm defensive line and threatened to snatch victory on the break, although it was Felix Platte who missed the best chance to win it for Paderborn at the death, scooping his shot over the crossbar at the end of a frustrating day for Paderborn.
Ingolstadt 0-0 Sandhausen
Basement side, Die Schanzer, stunned onlookers last weekend with a 5-0 victory against promotion chasing Nuremberg. Ingolstadt's fellow relegation strugglers, Sandhausen, also raised hopes of survival with a 2-0 victory of their own against Erzgebirge Aue. A scoreless draw at the Audi Sportpark therefore had an anticlimactic feel for both sides, who brought plenty of intensity but no forward spark. Forced to play the final 22 minutes of the game with ten men after Hans Nunoo Sarpei received his second yellow card, Ingolstadt held on for a draw that keeps them ten points from automatic safety. Sandhausen, meanwhile, are just one point above a relegation play-off place.