2. Bundesliga
Werder Bremen surrendered a 2-0 lead and top spot in Bundesliga 2 in a 3-2 home loss to Holstein Kiel.
Werder Bremen 2-3 Holstein Kiel
Goals: 1-0 Füllkrug 2' (assist: Weiser), 2-0 Ducksch (pen. 23'), 2-1 Füllkrug (o.g. 45'+2), 2-2 Jung (o.g. 71'), 2-3 Korb (85')
Fresh off a resounding 4-1 win away to promotion rivals Schalke, Bremen made a blistering start as Niclas Füllkrug back-heeled a Mitchel Weiser cross past Thomas Dähne inside two minutes. Kiel responded in kind, but Lewis Holtby's effort was ruled out for offside upon VAR review. The next pitchside check yielded a Werder penalty after Simon Lorenz was adjudged to have handled a Füllkrug header. Marvin Ducksch stepped up to make it 2-0, but Kiel were given a lifeline on the stroke of half-time. An Alexander Mühling corner caused pandemonium in the Bremen box, with Kwasi Wriedt's shot inadvertently going in off Füllkrug's outstretched leg.
Dähne had to dive full stretch to prevent Ducksch finding the mark with a postage-stamp free-kick soon after the restart. Füllkrug then sent a header wide, before Weiser went within a whisker of turning in a teasing cross into the six-yard box. Kiel levelled against the run of play with 19 minutes remaining when Anthony Jung attempted to block off Wriedt, only to put Johannes van den Bergh's cross past his own goalkeeper. After Füllkrug sent a header wide, Kiel completed an unlikely turnaround. Substitute Ahmet Arslan's shot was saved, but Julian Korb buried the rebound in another huge twist in the promotion race, on a day Schalke won and St. Pauli drew.
Teams
Bremen: Pavlenka - Rapp, Friedl, Jung - Gruev (Woltemade 86') - Weiser, Schmid (Schmidt 73'), Bittencourt (c), Agu (Dincki 86') - Füllkrug, Ducksch
Unused subs: Zetterer, Mai, Schönfelder, Nankishi, Mbom, Assale
Out: Groß (not included), Toprak (calf), Veljkovic (calf)
Coach: Ole Werner
Kiel: Dähne - Korb, Lorenz, Thesker, Van den Bergh - Skrzybski (Arslan 81'), Mühling (c) Holtby (Porath 76'), Reese, Pichler (Koulis 90'+2) - Wriedt
Unused subs: Gelios, Carrera, Sterner, Wolf, Arp
Out: Bartels (collarbone), Ignjovski (ligament), Porath (ankle), Wahl (ill)
Coach: Marcel Rapp
Matchday 32 round-up
Sandhausen 1-2 Schalke
Goals: 0-1 Terodde (71’), 1-1 Diekmeier (83’), 1-2 Terodde (90’+1)
Schalke returned to the Bundesliga 2 summit, thanks to Simon Terodde’s 91st-minute winner in Sandhausen. The Royal Blues dominated proceedings in the first half, but could not find a way past Patrick Drewes. The Sandhausen goalkeeper’s resistance was broken in the 71st minute when Terodde turned home after Darko Churlinov’s cross-shot had come back off the woodwork. Dennis Diekmeier equalised from out of nowhere, but Terodde had the final say, bundling in his 27th Bundesliga 2 goal of the season at the death.
Watch: Terodde's brace to send the Royal Blues top
St. Pauli 1-1 Nuremberg
Goals: 1-0 Kyerah (pen. 74’), 1-1 Duman (90’+2)
St. Pauli missed the chance to climb back into the top three after conceding a last-gasp equaliser to Nuremberg. A cautious encounter exploded into life when Pauli’s Finn Becker fired against the woodwork early in the second half. Christopher Buchtmann tested Christian Mathenia as the hosts turned the screw, culminating in Daniel-Kofi Kyerah breaking the deadlock from the penalty spot. Substitute Taylan Duman hit the upright in the closing stages, before turning in an injury-time leveller to leave Pauli fourth and Nuremberg three points back in sixth.
Hannover 2-0 Karlsruhe
Goals: 1-0 Weydandt (25’), 2-0 Beier (90’+2)
Hannover all but secured their Bundesliga 2 status for another year after beating Karlsruhe. Tim Breithaupt fluffed his lines with the game’s first opening of note, and was punished in the 25th minute when Hendrik Weydandt powered in Linton Maina’s cross with his head. There were chances at both ends for Maximilian Beier and Fabian Schleusener, before Hoffenheim-owned Beier sealed the points in the third minute of added time.
Heidenheim 1-3 Fortuna Düsseldorf
Goals: 0-1 Piotrowski (20’), 0-2 Klaus (33’), 2-1 Malone (47’), 1-3 Klarer (56’)
Fortuna Düsseldorf are guaranteed Bundesliga 2 football next season after scoring a comfortable win in Heidenheim. Rouwen Hennings and Oliver Hüsing went close with long-range lob attempts, before Matthias Zimmermann carved open the home defence to tee up Jakub Piotrowski for the opener. Felix Klaus pounced on a mistake by Heidenheim goalkeeper Kevin Müller to add a second, but the hosts halved the deficit within minutes of the restart through substitute Maurice Malone’s cross-shot. It didn’t take long for Düsseldorf to restore their two-goal advantage, though, with Christoph Klarer heading in Edgar Prib’s cross before the hour.
Darmstadt 6-0 Erzgebirge Aue
Goals: 1-0 Pfeiffer (17’), 2-0 Skarke (18’), 3-0 Manu (19’), 4-0 Skarke (39’), 5-0 Honsak (74’), 6-0 Kempe (90’)
Darmstadt climbed to second and relegated Erzgebirge Aue thanks to an emphatic win at the Böllenfalltor. Three goals in the space of two first-half minutes from Luca Pfieffer, Tim Skarke and Braydon Manu set the tone, before Skarke doubled his tally after fantastic work from Manu. After Ben Zolinski went agonisingly close to a consolation, substitute Mathias Honsak made it five. Tobias Kempe rounded out the scoring with a thunderous free-kick.
Ingolstadt 0-4 Hamburg
Goals: 0-1 Kittel (27'), 0-2 Schonlau (29'), 0-3 Glatzel (57'), 0-4 Kaufmann (81')
Hamburg moved to within three points of the promotion play-off spot with a comfortable win at relegated Ingolstadt. Robert Glatzel went close early on, before Ingolstadt's Stefan Kutschke made Daniel Heuer Fernandes work with a rare effort on the HSV goal. Headed efforts from Sonny Kittel and Fabian Schonlau put the Dinos in control, though, with Kittel unlucky not to add to his tally towards the end of the first half. Glatzel and Mikkel Kaufmann added the gloss to a third straight Hamburg victory.
Dynamo Dresden 1-1 Regensburg
Goals: 1-0 Daferner (73'), 1-1 Albers (88')
Dynamo Dresden will contest the promotion/ relegation play-off with the third-placed team in 3. Liga after failing to beat Regensburg. Michael Akoto hit the woodwork and saw a goal-bound effort blocked, before Christoph Daferner broke the deadlock with a shot on the turn. After Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer had a goal ruled out, Andreas Albers levelled against the run of play with a close-range header to secure Regensburg's place in next season's Bundesliga 2.
Hansa Rostock 0-0 Paderborn
Hansa Rostock are also guaranteed Bundesliga 2 football in 2022/23 after holding Paderborn to a goalless draw. Paderborn dominated for long periods, but found Markus Kolke in inspired form. The Rostock goalkeeper pulled off a fine double save from Jasper van der Werff, before beating away a Florent Muslija free-kick late in the half. Haris Duljevic tested Paderborn stopper Jannik Huth from a tight angle, while Kolke pulled off one final save for the cameras to thwart Julian Justvan.