2. Bundesliga
Teenaged striker Armindo Sieb fired Greuther Fürth to a deserved 1-0 win over high-flying Hamburg.
Greuther Fürth 1-0 Hamburg
Goals: 1-0 Sieb 8' (assist: Asta)
Red cards: Tillman 87'
Hamburg went into the game with the best away record in the division and eager to retake top spot, but a determined Fürth side, buoyed by new coach Alexander Zorniger, had other ideas. Ragnar Ache had already volleyed Greuther in front after five minutes were on the clock, but the strike was disallowed for offside. His 19-year-old strike partner Sieb slid in the opener a couple of minutes later after Simon Asta had brushed a ball into the box from Branimir Hrgota. Sonny Kittel had Hamburg’s first opportunity once Fürth’s ferocious start subsided, but his shot from a tight angle was saved by Andreas Linde. It was then the visitors’ turn to have a goal chalked off as Robert Glatzel headed in from an offside position. Hrgota then missed a wonderful chance to double the hosts’ lead towards the end of an open first half.
Fürth continued to press forward after the restart with Daniel Heuer called on to deny Sieb twice in style, with the former Bayern Munich youngster also hitting the side netting. A flat Hamburg were barely able to lay a glove on Die Kleeblätter in the second period, with substitute Gideon Jung missing a great chance to seal the win in the closing minutes. Not even a late red card for Timothy Tillman could put a home win under any doubt. After six minutes of stoppage time, the three points the hosts merited for their dominant showing were sealed.
Teams
Greuther: Linde - Griesbeck, Michalski (Jung 75’), Haddadi - Asta (Meyerhöfer 90'), Christiansen, Raschl, John - Hrgota (c) - Ache (Abiama 75’), Sieb (Tillman 65’)
Unused subs: Schaffen, Mhamdi, Green, Seufert, Pululu
Out: Angleberger (ankle), Dudziak (illness), Kehr (cruciate), Itter (illness), Raebiger (ligament)
Coach: Alexander Zorniger
Hamburg: Heuer Fernandes - Königsdörffer, Vuskovic, Schonlau (c), Muheim - Reis (Suhonen 73’), Meffert (Sanne 81’), Benes - Kittel (Bilbija 81’), Glatzel, Dompe (Amaechi 58’)
Unused subs: Raab, Andresen, David, Mikelbrencis, Zumberi
Out: Heil (foot), Heyer (ankle), Jatta (ankle), Krahn (knee), Leibold (match fitness), Megeed (metetarsal), Mickel (ankle)
Coach: Tim Walter
Matchday 16 round-up
Magdeburg 0-1 Darmstadt
Goals: Pfeiffer 78' (Kempe)
Red Card: Piccini 54'
Darmstadt's march towards promotion continued as they beat Magdeburg 1-0 on the road to extend their unbeaten run to 17 matches in all competitions. They were given a huge helping hand in their search for victory at the start of the second half, when Cristiano Piccini was sent off following a VAR intervention for handling as the last man, even though two of his teammates would arguably have covered Marvin Mehlem's run into the box. The Bundesliga 2 leaders eventually made their one-man advantage count through Patric Pfeiffer, whose well-placed looping header nestled in the corner. Delight for Darmstadt, but disappointment for Magdeburg as their three-match streak without defeat was brought to an end.
Hannover 2-0 Düsseldorf
Goals: 1-0 Nielsen 34', 2-0 Teuchert 43' (assist: Weydandt)
Hannover goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler produced an inspired performance as Hannover defeated Fortuna Düsseldorf 2-0. The visitors enjoyed the better of the early exchanges, but found themselves behind shortly after the half-hour mark as Havard Nielsen volleyed home Jannik Dehm's throw-in. Against the run of play, Hannover extended their advantage when Cedric Teuchert put the finishing touch to a swift counter-attack for his sixth league goal of the season, his joint-best tally. Düsseldorf peppered Zieler's goal in the second half, but the shot-stopper was equal to everything thrown his way. His superb showing was hardly surprising, though, given he has conceded just once in his last five league outings.
Sandhausen 3-4 Heidenheim
Goals: 0-1 Siersleben 31' (assist: Beste), 0-2 Kleindienst 41', 0-3 Kuhlwetter 48' (assist: Fohrenbach) 1-3 Papela 50' (assist: Soukou), 1-4 Sessa 73' (assist: Maloney), 2-4 Kinsombi 76' (assist: Esswein), 3-4 Esswein 80' (assist: Kinsombi)
Heidenheim trail Hamburg by just one point after edging Sandhausen 4-3 in a thrilling encounter. After a fairly even opening 30 minutes, some slack defending from a corner allowed Tim Siersleben to head home, and Tim Kleindienst fired a volley beyond Patrick Drewes soon after. A stunning strike from Christian Kühlwetter put Heidenheim even further in the ascendancy three minutes after half-time and, although Merveille Papela pulled one back almost immediately, the three-goal margin was restored by Kevin Sessa with just 17 minutes left to play. Two deflected strikes in four minutes from Christian Kinsombi and Alexander Esswein set up an intriguing climax, but Sandhausen had ultimately left themselves with too much to do in their quest for a point.
Kaiserslautern 2-0 Karlsruhe
Goals: 1-0 Boyd 34' (assist: Ritter), 2-0 Redondo 86' (assist: Opoko)
Kaiserslautern inflicted a fifth consecutive Bundesliga 2 defeat on Karlsruhe with a comfortable 2-0 victory at the Fritz-Walter-Stadium. For much of the first half, the visitors were the better side, but the Red Devils were more clinical and moved ahead through Terrence Boyd's tap-in at the near post. While Karlsruhe dominated possession after the break, they rarely threatened to find an equaliser, and Kenny Prince Redondo put the game to bed shortly before the full-time whistle by slotting home Aaron Opoku's cross. Kaiserslautern are now unbeaten in their last four games and sit seventh in their first season back in the second tier.
Watch: Terrence Boyd set Kaiserslautern on the road to victory
St. Pauli 0-0 Holstein Kiel
St. Pauli moved out of the relegation play-off spot as they held Holstein Kiel to a goalless draw. There was little by way of goalmouth action, although the visitors were the more threatening of the two sides. Patrick Erras' header from Lewis Holtby's corner was the closest either side came to a winner and, while the Kiezkicker can take positives from moving out of the bottom three, coach Timo Schultz will be worried with his troubles in front of goal. Kiel, meanwhile, remain in mid-table.
Paderborn 0-2 Arminia Bielefeld
Goals: 0-1 Serra 40' (assist: Okugawa), 0-2 Vasiliadis 45'+2 (Rzatkowski)
Red cards: Huth 8', Klünter 70'
Arminia Bielefeld remain bottom of the table despite beating high-flying Paderborn 2-0 away from home. Arminia's hopes of an unexpected victory were boosted after just eight minutes, when Paderborn goalkeeper Jannik Huth was sent off after inexplicably catching the ball outside his area. Bielefeld eventually made their numerical superiority count shortly before the interval when Janni Serra prodded home Masaya Okugawa's cross, and they doubled their lead in first-half injury time when Sebastian Vasiliadis rifled a shot into the corner. Lukas Klünter's dismissal midway through the second period was not enough to derail the visitors, who close the gap to safety to two points.
Regensburg 1-1 Braunschweig
Goals: 1-0 Makridis 11', 1-1 Lauberbach 15' (assist: Krauße)
Regensburg were frustrated by Eintracht Braunschweig, only managing a 1-1 draw despite taking the lead. The opener, which came after only 11 minutes, was rather fortuitous, as Charalampos Makridis dispatched the rebound after Jacob Mees' effort from outside the area hit the post. That was the forward's first goal in 30 matches, but his side's lead lasted less than five minutes. Lion Lauberbach's strike was a well-taken one, poking past Thorsten Kirschbaum following Robin Krauße's clever through ball. Although Andreas Albers had the ball in the back of the net later on, the narrowest of offsides prevented the hosts from clinching all three points.
Rostock 1-1 Nuremberg
Goals: 0-1 Nürnberger 5' (assist: Tempelmann), 1-1 Fröling 90'+1
Nuremberg have now won just one of their last nine Bundesliga 2 fixtures after drawing 1-1 away at Hansa Rostock. Der Club took the lead after just five minutes through the aptly named Fabian Nürnberger, who buried a low drive from 30 yards into the bottom corner. Rostock huffed and puffed for the remainder of the match and looked like they were going to come up short until the first minute of second-half injury time. Nils Fröling's volley from the edge of the area was worthy of a point, and Rostock's resilience was something for new coach Patrick Glöckner to build on.