2. Bundesliga
Darmstadt will have to wait another week to be able to celebrate their return to the Bundesliga after Hannover beat them 2-1 to inflict a second straight defeat on Torsten Lieberknecht’s men, while Hamburg kept up the pressure with a win in Regensburg.
Hannover 2-1 Darmstadt
Goals: 1-0 Nielsen (10’), 2-0 Teuchert (31’), 2-1 Tietz (43‘)
Red cards: Bader (86‘), Manu (90'+3)
While it was the visiting fans making most of the noise early on, it was the home team who started the brighter, and deservedly took the lead ten minutes in. Havard Nielsen peeled away to head in Louis Schaub’s cross from close range and silences the expectant guest supporters. It was no less than Hannover deserved, though, having dominated the early proceedings, and Nielsen went close to adding a second before Derrick Köhn blazed over. Darmstadt showed some signs of life, but Hannover continued to pose the greater threat and, after another Nielsen header went wide, Cedric Teuchert doubled their lead from the tightest of angles. Philipp Tietz did not look likely to score when he received the ball with his back to goal, but he swivelled and struck Darmstadt’s first goalbound shot of the game into the bottom right-hand corner to give the guests hope before the break.
Teuchert thought he had doubled Hannover’s lead early in the second half when he lobbed Marcel Schuhen, but no sooner had the ball crossed the line than the linesman’s flag was raised for a correct offside decision. Hannover continued to dominate as they had in the first half, though without showing the same incision as they had in the opening 45 minutes. Darmstadt could not muster much more, though, and as their tempers started to get the better of them, they lost both Matthias Bader and Braydon Manu to red cards, which will deprive Lieberknecht of two key players when they host Magdeburg next weekend, still needing a win to book their return to the Bundesliga.
Match stats
Matchday 32 round-up
Jahn Regensburg 1-5 Hamburg
Goals: 0-1 Glatzel (5‘), 0-2 Kittel (17‘), 0-3 Mulheim (30‘), 0-4 Kittel (45‘), 1-4 Caliskaner (55‘), 1-5 Bilbija (81‘)
Hamburg kept up the pressure on promotion-chasing Darmstadt and Heidenheim with a 5-1 win at Regensburg which all but condemned the Bavarians to relegation to the third division. Robert Glatzel put the guests ahead after just five minutes and further goals from Sonny Kittel and Miro Muheim put Hamburg on course for victory within the first 30 minutes. Kittel grabbed his second just before half-time and although Kaan Caliskaner pulled one back for the hosts, Filip Bilbija completed the scoring to take Hamburg to within a point of the automatic promotion places with two games of the season to go, while Regensburg head into the final two games of the season trailing the relegation play-off berth by five points.
Watch: All five Hamburg goals against Regensburg
Paderborn 3-2 Heidenheim
Goals: 1-0 Klefisch (26‘), 1-1 Kleindienst (30‘), 1-2 Thomalla (37‘), 2-2 Pieringer (50‘), 3-2 Muslija (52‘)
Paderborn came from behind to put a spanner in Heidenheim’s promotion hopes in a topsy-turvy game in East Westphalia. Kai Klefisch gave Paderborn the lead, but two goals in seven minutes from the league’s top-scorer Tim Kleindienst – his 24th of the season – and Denis Thomalla turned the game on its head. Marvin Pieringer restored parity early in the second half, though, and Florent Muslija sealed all three points for Paderborn, who kept alive their slim hopes of catching Hamburg in third, while denying Heidenheim a win which would have put them top of the table.
St. Pauli 0-0 Fortuna Düsseldorf
Neither Pauli nor Düsseldorf were able to gain any ground in the promotion race as the sides, respectively sitting fourth and fifth in the standings going into Matchday 32 – cancelled each other out on Saturday evening. Marcel Hartel hit the woodwork for the hosts with a thundering long-range drive in a hard-fought first half, while Fortuna substitute Jona Niemiec likewise struck the frame of the goal in the closing stages with his first touch after coming off the bench, but neither team could find a winner. As such, both teams must hope that Hamburg slip up in their remaining games to have any chance of snatching the promotion play-off spot.
Watch: St Pauli 0-0 Fortuna - highlights
Sandhausen 1-2 Hansa Rostock
Goals: 0-1 Fröling (17'), 0-2 Pröger (37'), 1-2 Bachmann (54')
Sandhausen remain rock-bottom with two games to go after their 18th defeat of the season and it is now impossible for them to finish outside the bottom-three. That’s thanks to Rostock’s 2-1 victory that was teed up by a first half double from Nils Fröling and Kai Pröger. Sandhausen did pull one back after the break through Janik Bachmann but they are now five points back from 16th and must win their final two games to have any change of finishing, at best, in the promotion/relegation playoff.
Magdeburg 2-2 Nuremberg
Goals: 1-0 Horn o.g. (34'), 1-1 Lohkemper (54'), 2-1 Ceka (68'), 2-2 Lohkemper (81')
Needing just a point to secure their second division status, Magdeburg twice led through first a Jannes Horn own-goal and then Jason Ceka’s fourth strike of the campaign, but Felix Lohkemper was on hand both times to ensure Nuremberg claimed a vital point of their own. As a result, Nuremberg are two points clear of the bottom three and they keep their future in their own hands. Two more wins and they will join Magdeburg in retaining their Bundesliga 2 status.
Greuther Fürth 2-2 Eintracht Braunschweig
Goals: 0-1 Ujah (10'), 1-1 Green (23'), 1-2 Pherai (47'), 2-2 Green (54')
With neither side mathematically clear of the bottom three going into Matchday 32, both teams needed to avoid defeat at the very least as they looked to make sure of second division football next season. It was the visitors that landed the first punch, through Anthony Ujah but Greuther soon drew level thanks to Julian Green. Eintracht restored their lead two minutes after the break as Immanuël Pherai bundled the ball home but they were again pegged back by Green, who bagged his sixth league goal of the season in the process.
Holstein Kiel 2-1 Karlsruhe
Goals: 1-0 Skrzybski (17'), 2-0 Porath (69'), 2-1 Jensen (74')
Eighth-place was up for grabs as Kiel hosted Karlsruhe on Saturday afternoon, with the former claiming all three points and leapfrogging their visitors in the process. Steven Skrzybski set Kiel on course for victory after just 17 minutes, before Finn Porath doubled his team’s advantage with just over 20 minutes to play. There was time for Leon Jensen to halve the deficit, but his effort proved nothing other than a consolation.
Kaiserslautern 1-2 Arminia Bielefeld
Goals: 0-1 Consbruch (15'), 1-1 Lobinger (88'), 1-2 Serra (90'+7)
While Lautern’s hopes of promotion had already ended, Bielefeld are still scrapping for their lives at the other end of the table and could have ended the weekend bottom had results gone against them. Instead, they close out Matchday 32 with just two points separating themselves in the promotion/relegation playoff and Nuremberg in the safety of 15th-place after a dramatic finish at the Fritz-Walter Stadion. After Jomaine Consbruch had given the visitors an early lead, it looked as though they would settle for the single point when Lex-Tyger Lobinger levelled the scores with two minutes remaining of the 90 but, deep into injury-time, Bielefeld found the winner they desperately craved as Janni Serra headed home with 97 minutes on the clock.