2. Bundesliga
HSV kept their promotion hopes alive with a 4-3 win over St. Pauli in a highly dramatic Hamburg derby encounter.
Hamburg 4-3 St. Pauli
Goals: 0-1 Saliakas 36' (assist: Daschner), 1-1 David 44' (assist: Dompe), 2-1 Jatta 48' (assist: Schonlau), 3-1 Heyer (52'), 3-2 Saad 71' (assist: Paqarada), 4-2 Medic (o.g. 78'), 4-3 Irvine 79' (assist: Hartel)
Hamburg were buzzing at the chance to avenge a 3-0 defeat in the first derby of the season and give their promotion bid a shot in the arm in the process. Robert Glatzel fired their first shot, before Marcel Hartel had St. Pauli’s first effort in a fluent opening phase. Englishman Oladapo Afolayan turned inside and had a shot deflected behind as the visitors showed the kind of confidence and purpose that had given them a recent run of 10 successive wins. The tricky winger then had a goal from a lovely solo charge disallowed for a foul in the build-up. Manolis Saliakas squeezed a shot past Daniel Heuer Fernandes at the near post that looked destined to give St. Pauli a lead at the break - until Jonas David levelled on the stroke of half-time with a bullet from the edge of the box.
Hamburg immediately got their noses in front after the restart as Bakery Jatta sneaked in at the far post to turn Sebastian Schonlau's cross in. Hamburg's purple patch wasn't finished, as Moritz Heyer soon bundled in a third goal on the rebound. St. Pauli were in no mood to concede defeat and went on the attack. Connor Metcalfe and Leart Paqarada both had chances before Elias Saad slotted their second goal in. Eric Smith then fired wide soon afterwards in a chance to equalise. That miss appeared to be a vital one as a Jakov Medic own goal restored Hamburg's two-goal lead, only for Jacskon Irvine to head the visitors' third in. The final phase was every bit as frenetic as the rest of the match, but no further strikes resulted, and it was the hosts who could celebrate a thrilling and vital derby win.
Match stats
Teams
Hamburg: Heuer Fernandes – Heyer, David, Schonlau (c), Muheim – Meffert, Reis, Dompe (Königsdörffer 46', Krahn 90+5') – Jatta (Benes 60'), Glatzel, Kittel (Suhonen 89')
Unused subs: Raab, Mikelbrencis, Montero, Katterbach, Bilbija
Out: Vuskovic (suspended)
Coach: Tim Walter
St. Pauli: Vasilj – Medic, Smith, Mets - Saliakas (Beifus 89'), Irvine, Aremu (Saad 59'), Paqarada (c) – Afolayan (Metcalfe 59'), Daschner (Otto 85'), Hartel
Unused subs: Burchert, Fazliji, Ritzka, Dzwigala, Eggestein,
Out: Amenyido (adductor), Avevor (ankle), Matanovic (shoulder), Maurides (knee), Nemeth (pubitis)
Coach: Fabian Hürzeler
Matchday 29 roundup
Heidenheim 3-0 Holstein Kiel
Goals: 1-0 Mainka 2', 2-0 Kleindienst (68'), 3-0 Beste (75')
Heidenheim raced into an early lead, courtesy of Patrick Mainka’s effort inside the first two minutes of football at the Voith-Arena, where the home team had lost just once this season ahead of Kiel’s visit. League top-scorer Tim Kleindienst chalked up his 22nd goal of the season with just over 20 minutes to play before Jan-Niklas Beste soon added a third from the penalty spot to put Heidenheim on course for a comfortable victory. All three points moves Heidenheim back into second-place, four points back from leaders Darmstadt.
Watch: Heidenehim 3-0 Holstein Kiel - in 60 seconds!
Darmstadt 2-1 Karlsruher
Goals: 0-1 Schleusener 11' 1-1 Manu 26', 2-1 Tietz 51'
Division leaders Darmstadt were made to sweat by visiting Karlsruher before the Lilies recovered to earn a victory that keeps Torsten Lieberknecht's side four points clear at the top of the standings. Paul Nebel supplied Fabian Schleusener for the game's opening goal at the Merck-Stadion am Böllenfalltor. The hosts weren't behind for long, however. After regaining possession, Phillip Tietz released Braydon Manu, who made no mistake when clean through on goals. Shortly after the restart Tietz, pounced at the far post to nod in what would turn out to be the game's winner, and the forward's ninth goal of the campaign.
Arminia Bielefeld 1-3 Hannover
Goals: 0-1 Teuchert 14', 1-1 Klos 22', 1-2 Teuchert (pen.) 42', 1-3 Schaub 55'
Red card: Lührs 87'
Hannover recovered from back-to-back defeats to put hosts Bielefeld to the sword, with Uwe Koschinat's team remaining in significant relegation bother as a result. Despite starting strongly, the hosts fell behind to a superb Cedric Teuchert strike right before the quarter hour. Home captain Fabian Klos netted a well-worked equaliser thereafter but when Teuchert scored his second of the game from the penalty spot after Marc Rzatkowski handled in the area as half-time approached, Arminia were in trouble. Louis Schaub's was given far too much time and space with which to score after the restart and despite Yannik Lührs' late dismissal for the visitors, Hannover held on for maximum returns.
Nuremberg 2-0 Fortuna Düsseldorf
Goals: 1-0 Brown 10', 2-0 Duah 90'+3
Winless in four Bundesliga 2 encounters prior to this Matchday 29 meeting, Dieter Hecking's Nuremberg put Fortuna to the sword for the third time this campaign to collect an invaluable three points that puts daylight between Der Club and the drop zone. Unbeaten in seven going into this game, Daniel Thioune's promotion-chasers were stunned when falling behind to Nathaniel Brown's tenth minute opener in what was Nuremberg's first shot on goal. The home side dominated proceedings thereafter and deservedly bagged a second in the dying stages when substitutes Pascal Köpke and Kwadwo Duah combined to kill off Düsseldorf.
Hansa Rostock 2-0 Greuther Fürth
Goals: 1-0 Fröling 50', 2-0 Dressel 66'
Hansa breathed life into the relegation survival battle by picking up three crucial points against visiting Fürth. The Texas-born Nils Fröling hit a long-range stunner to put the home side a goal up not long after the restart and when Dennis Dressel doubled his side's lead in the 66th minute, Alois Schwartz's team were set fair for their first home triumph since early September. The victory saw the men from the Baltic coast move provisionally out of the automatic relegation spots.
Eintracht Braunschweig 1-2 Magdeburg
Goals: 0-1 Kwarteng 22', 0-2 Ito 63', 1-2 Ujah 69'
Braunschweig's mini-revival was checked by visiting Magdeburg leaving the hosts looking nervously over the shoulders from 14th spot. Michael Schiele's side were unbeaten in four, winning three, of their previous four games but they found themselves a goal behind after 22 minutes of this latest fixture. Moritz Kwarteng's cool finish between Ron-Thorben Hoffmann's legs opened the scoring for Der Blau while, fresh from the substitute's bench, Tatsuya Ito netted a delightful second after the break. Anthony Ujah headed in his eighth goal of the campaign to reduce the arrears but Magdeburg ultimately weren't to be denied.
Sandhausen 2-2 Paderborn
Goals: 0-1 Muslija 19', 0-2 Rohr 27', 1-2 Ademi 31', 2-2 Evina (48')
Having ended their run of nine games without victory by beating Magdeburg on Matchday 28, basement outfit Sandhausen hosted Paderborn with renewed hope of survival. But their optimism was soon dampened as Paderborn took a 2-0 lead within the first half hour. Florent Muslija provided the first before Maximilian Rohr doubled the visitors’ advantage with just 27 minutes on the clock. Karim Ademi pulled one back four minutes later for the hosts and they were level within minutes of the restart as Franck Evina struck his third goal of the season. It would remain 2-2 by the final whistle, leaving Sandhausen just four points adrift of safety, while Paderborn are now nine points off the top-three.
Jahn Regensburg 0-0 Kaiserslautern
Red card: Saller 74'
Regensburg remain third from bottom after holding Kaiserslautern to a goalless draw on Matchday 29, a result that means Lautern have now won just one of their last seven and two of their previous 10. And they were up against 10 men for the final 16 minutes of the game, following Benedikt Seller's red card. But the visitors couldn't find a breakthrough and their faint hopes of promotion are fading further. As for Regensburg, they are just a point from safety and have collected eight points from a possible 18 in their last six outings to give them a fighting chance of survival.