Matchday 29 round-up: Honours even as St. Pauli and Werder draw

St. Pauli 1-1 Werder Bremen
Goals: 1-0 Kyereh 43' (assist: Paqarada), 1-1 Füllkrug 58' (assist: Schmid)

Just one point separated visiting Werder in first from third-placed Pauli going into this top-of-the-table encounter. With automatic promotion at stake, fans packed the Millerntor, creating an atmosphere fitting of the occasion. Marcel Hartel soon had the home fans on their feet with a rasping shot from range that Jiri Pavlenka palmed over the top. At the other end, Werder's deadly duo of Ducksch and Füllkrug provided a constant threat, with the latter accepting an assist from his attacking teammate before slicing wide the visitors' best chance of the half. Boasting the best home record in the division and with the in-form Kyereh on board, Pauli pounced to push ahead just before the break. Watching Leart Paqarada's inviting cross all the way, Kyereh converted in style to make it seven goals in nine games for the Ghana international.

Werder had only been beaten once in 13 outings under coach Ole Werner and the River-Islanders emerged determined to maintain their solid run after the restart. They would draw level through Füllkrug's 15th goal of the campaign, the striker smashing in from close range after Romano Schmid had laid on an easy finish for his teammate from Leonardo Bittencourt's initial centre. Pauli forward Guido Burgstaller can boast 17 goals in this season's second division yet the Austrian had endured a four-game barren spell going into this Matchday 29 game. Presented with a couple of chances in quick succession to put an end to that sequence, the Pauli No. 9 fluffed his lines, dragging an initial shot wide of the upright before finding the fists of Pavlenka with a subsequent drive. The action swung back the other way and Werder thought they had won it in the closing stages, with Ducksch's brilliantly curling shot from range looking all but in, until the hosts were saved by the crossbar. The result leaves both teams involved in an epic promotion push, with Pauli in third on 52 points, one behind Werder who are level with leaders Schalke.

Match stats

• Füllkrug can now boast a career-high 15 goals for the season in 2. Bundesliga.
• The striker has scored four times in his last six games against Pauli.
  As many as ten of Füllkrug's 15 goals have been scored in the second half of the season, more than any other player has managed in the Rückrunde.
• This was the first time in nine games when Kyereh scored that Pauli failed to win.
• Kyereh has now scored seven times in his last seven home games.
  With 11 goals for the season so far, Kyereh continues to add to his personal best in a single campaign.
• Bremen haven’t lost a league match - Bundesliga or Bundesliga 2 - to Pauli since 6 August 1977 (W13, D6).

Line-ups

Pauli: Vasilj - Beifus (Dzwigala 73'), Ziereis, Medic, Paqarada (c) - Irvine, Aremu (Becker 64'), Hartel - Kyereh - Burgstaller (Makienok 88'), Amenyido (Matanovic 64')
Unused subs: Smarsch, Ritzka, Buchtmann, Daschner, Benatelli
Out: Avevor (ankle), Dittgen (muscular), Ohlsson (knee), Smith (calf), Wieckhoff (knee)
Coach: Timo Schultz

Bremen: Pavlenka - Veljkovic, Groß, Friedl - Rapp (Gruev 46') - Weiser (Schmidt 57'), Schmid, Bittencourt (c) (Toprak 76'), Agu - Füllkrug, Ducksch
Unused subs: Zetterer, Mai, Schönfelder, Mbom, Woltemade, Dinkci
Out: Jung (suspended), Nankishi (muscular), Plogmann (concussion)
Coach: Ole Werner

Matchday 29 round-up

Fortuna Düsseldorf 3-0 Hansa Rostock
Goals: 1-0 Tanaka (13'), 2-0 Appelkamp (64'), 3-0 Narey (90')

Fortuna Düsseldorf pulled away from the relegation zone and closed in on Rostock with a convincing 3-0 win over their mid-table opponents. Ao Tanaka put the hosts in front with their first chance of the game, turning in Khaled Narey's cross and converting his 13th assist of the season – a league high. Shinty Appelkamp added the second with his first career headed goal, from Nicolas Gavory's cross. Narey then got his own name on the scoresheet to wrap up the points, Tanaka returning the favour to set him up to score from outside the penalty area.

Schalke 3-0 Heidenheim
Goals: 1-0 Drexler (35'), 2-0 Itakura 52', 3-0 Terodde 90'+6

Schalke jumped to the top of the standings - at least provisionally - on Saturday after a victory against a Heidenheim side that were left to rue a series of missed chances. A lapse from Oliver Hüsing allowed the hosts top open the scoring, with Dominick Drexler lifting a finish over Kevin Müller ten minutes before the break. Ko Itakura fired in from a tight angle to double the Royal Blues' lead after the restart and after Heidenheim had a goal ruled out for offside, their disappointment was complete deep into added time when the division's leading marksman, Simon Terodde, scored his 22nd of the campaign.

Watch: Schalke win again against Heidenheim 

Erzgebirge Aue 1-3 Hannover
Goals: 0-1 Börner 3', 0-2 Weydandt 23', 1-2 Trujic 54', 1-3 Kerk 75'

Bottom side Aue's fate appears sealed after this latest setback at home to a Hannover side that now have significant breathing space above the relegation play-off spot. Julian Börner had the visitors ahead with just three minutes in the clock, the defender heading home Sebastian Kerk's corner. Hendrik Weydandt doubled his team's lead when racing through, the Hannover No.9 beating Martin Männel at the second attempt for his sixth goal of the campaign. The Violets battled back and were within one goal of their opponents when Nikola Trujic knocked home Anthony Barylla's cross to the far post. A visiting counter-attack put paid to Aue's mini revival, however, Kerk accepting Maximilian Beier's through pass before seeing his shot take a deflection over the line.

Nuremberg 3-1 Darmstadt
Goals: 1-0 Dovedan (43’), 1-1 Pfeiffer (58’), 2-1 (82’), 3-1 Leipold (o.g. 90’+7)

Darmstadt’s tilt at automatic promotion suffered a major setback on Matchday 29 as they slipped to a 3-1 defeat in Nuremberg, a result that propels the home team back into the thick of the promotion mix. Darmstadt went into the game knowing a win would take them top of the table, but despite starting brightly they were unable to convert a number of chances and they were punished just before the interval when Nikola Dovedan headed in a free-kick to put Nuremberg in front. Luca Pfeiffer netted a deserved equaliser around the hour mark, but Lukas Schleimer’s header from a corner in the closing stages reignited Der Club’s hopes of promotion – and dent Darmstadt’s – with the scorelines sealed in stoppage time through Andre Leipold’s own goal.

Watch: Highlights of Nuremberg's big win over Darmstadt

Jahn Regensburg 1-1 Ingolstadt
Goals: 0-1 Guwara (36'), 1-1 Albers (56')

Jahn Regensburg had to settle for a point against Bavarian rivals Ingolstadt, with the guests remaining in relegation danger after failing to win for the 25th time this season. Only a win would realistically have kept Ingolstadt's survival hopes alive and they looked on course for the points when Leon Guwara turned Christian Gebauer's cross into his own goal. Andreas Albers levelled early in the second half, turning the ball in from close range after Ingolstadt failed to clear their lines from a corner, and Jahn had a host of opportunities to take the lead. When Benedikt Gimber sent a last-gasp header against the crossbar, it summed up Regensburg's evening as they huffed and puffed, but failed to blow their local rivals down.

Holstein Kiel 1-0 Hamburg
Goals: 1-0 Wriedt (13')

Holstein had Thomas Dähne to thank for a superb early save that denied Robert Glatzel what would have been an 18th league goal of the season. As a result, the hosts were able to soon have their noses in front themselves courtesy of Kwasi Okyere Wriedt's breakaway opener. Fed through on goal by Fabian Reese's tackle on Bakery Jatta, Wriedt held off Sebastian Schonlau in a foot race towards goal before firing under Daniel Heuer Fernandes on his left foot. Dähne again saved well from Glatzel, this time at the feet of the HSV striker, with half an hour to play to frustrate the promotion chasing visitors even further. And Kiel would go on to claim all three points, leaving Hamburg seven points back from the top-three.

Sandhausen 2-1 Dynamo Dresden
Goals: 1-0 Dumic (7'), 2-0 Zenga (48'), 2-1 Knipping (65')

Starting the day with just three points separating the hosts in 15th and the visitors in the promotion/relegation playoff one spot below, this was a genuine six-pointer. And it was the home side that struck first, taking a seventh-minute lead through Dario Dumic as the centre-back reacted quickest to Kevin Broll's save and prodded home from close range. Broll then produced an outstanding stop to deny Pascal Testroet a Sandhausen second only moments later. Sandhausen did eventually double their lead early in the second half. A dosing Paul Will lost possession, allowing Sandhausen to pounce and Erik Zenga found the back of the net to make it 2-0. Tim Knipping pulled one back but Sandhausen held on to a victory that opens up a six point gap to Dresden.

Paderborn 2-2 Karlsruhe
Goals: 1-0 Pröger (30'), 1-1 Wanitzek (36'), 1-2 Hofmann (69'), 2-2 Thalhammer (84')
Red card: Hünemeier (47')

Paderborn took the lead on the half hour mark thanks to Kai Pröger's fifth goal of the season and first since Matchday 10, which owed an enormous amount to Florent Muslija's sumptuous through ball. The away team were on level terms six minutes later as Benjamin Goller's pinpoint pass found Marvin Wanitzek on the edge of the box to rattle home the leveller. Shortly after the break, Paderborn were reduced to 10 men after Uwe Hünemeier was shown a straight red card for a late tackle on Goller. Karlsruhe made the advantage count with 20 minutes to go when Jannik Huth couldn't keep out Philipp Hofmann's header, but Paderborn drew level late on through Maximilian Thalhammer to ensure a share of the points.