With Eintracht Braunschweig, the team of the hour came to Gelsenkirchen. But Schalke withstood their opponents – and celebrated their first points in the second half of the season.
So Schalke 04 can still win. The Bundesliga relegated team, which started the year with two bankruptcies, narrowly won the relegation duel against Eintracht Braunschweig 1-0. Kenan Karaman scored the redeeming goal of the day in the 61st minute.
Meanwhile, St. Pauli (first) and Greuther Fürth (second) met in the top game of the 2nd Bundesliga. The Hamburg team retained the upper hand in a wild game that was overshadowed by a firecracker throw (you can read more about it here) – and won 3-2.
In the third game, 1. FC Nürnberg and bottom team VfL Osnabrück drew 2-2.
That’s how the games went
Schalke 04 – Eintracht Braunschweig
Schalke have landed the important liberating blow. The struggling Royal Blues defeated Eintracht Braunschweig 1-0 (0-0) on Saturday and distanced themselves from their direct rivals to three points.
Schalke, who were lucky not to fall behind, especially in the early stages, temporarily moved up to 14th place thanks to their first success this year. Braunschweig missed its fifth win in a row in a low-level game and fell back to 17th place.
Eintracht initially took the initiative, but after a quarter of an hour missed the well-deserved lead. Schalke slowly recovered, but then looked for a way forward. Karaman failed with a shot that hit the crossbar (34′). The 61,219 spectators had to wait a long time for the next big chance until the active Karaman slotted into the right corner (61st minute). In the end, Braunschweig tried everything again, but the equalizer was no longer successful. Schalke’s disappointing counterattack attempts went unpunished.
FC St. Pauli – Greuther Fürth
Elias Saad gave FC St. Pauli an important victory in the promotion battle in the top game of the 2nd Bundesliga against pursuers SpVgg Greuther Fürth. In a top-class game on Saturday, the striker scored the goal to make the final score 3:2 (2:2) (81st minute). Saad (30th) had already made it 1-0 for the league leaders in the first half. Shortly afterwards, Oladapo Afolayan increased (33′).
The strong Fürth team equalized through Armindo Sieb (44th) and Simon Asta (59th). Thanks to this success, FC St. Pauli is six points ahead of Holstein Kiel and seven points ahead of Fürth after matchday 20.
The game lived up to all expectations. In front of 29,035 spectators, the first half hour belonged to Hamburg, who had to cope with the cup loss against Fortuna Düsseldorf on Tuesday.
Coach Fabian Hürzeler’s team created numerous scoring opportunities. After an unfortunate shot save by the otherwise strong Fürth goalkeeper Jonas Urbig, Saad took the deserved lead. Immediately after the goal, a firecracker exploded near the St. Pauli players’ bench and the game was briefly interrupted. According to FC St. Pauli, there were no injuries and one suspect was caught.
Hamburg didn’t let the shock deter them; a deflected shot from Afolayan gave them a 2-0 lead. Fürth became more active after the second goal, Sieb scored and Asta equalized in the second half. In an open final phase, Saad ensured Hamburg’s victory.
Bottom team Osnabrück have meanwhile fought for a point, but remain without a win for the 13th game in a row. At 1. FC Nürnberg, Lower Saxony scored a late 2-2 (1-1). However, the distance to the safe bank is still ten points.