Joker Opoku & double pack Tomiak
1. FC Kaiserslautern took the lead in the 2nd Bundesliga after a 3-1 (1-1) win against Hannover 96, at least for one night. The Palatinate team has collected 17 points so far. Hannover’s lead by Havard Nielsen (17th minute) was canceled out by Boris Tomiak (45th + 5/foul penalty). After the break, Joker Aaron Opoku (79th) scored to make it 2-1 for FCK, Tomiak (90th + 10th) made the final score again with a penalty kick in front of 43,017 spectators in the Fritz Walter Stadium.
After both teams tested in the opening minutes, the guests took the lead through Nielsen, but Kaiserslautern got stronger after falling behind and scored a deserved equalizer shortly before the break: referee Michael Bacher awarded a penalty after a foul by Marcel Halstenberg on Jan Elvedi , which Tomiak transformed.
After the game restarted, the game calmed down a bit, but FCK now had significantly better chances. Goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler initially prevented Richmond Tachie (57th), Ragnar Ache (74th) and Marlon Ritter (75th) from conceding another goal. However, ten minutes before the final whistle he was powerless when substitute Opoku scored to make it 2-1. Hannover’s goalscorer Nielsen was shown a red card in stoppage time for assault. Tomiak scored with the final whistle to make it 3-1.
8 times over 30,000: All second division stadiums in 2023/24 according to capacity
VfL Osnabrück equalizes late: Fortuna Düsseldorf squanders a home win and first place
With a goal conceded by Erik Engelhardt in the 90th minute, Fortuna Düsseldorf gave up what was believed to be their fifth win of the season and thus missed an early return to the top of the table in the 2nd league. Coach Daniel Thioune’s team couldn’t get past a 1-1 (0-0) draw against VfL Osnabrück and fell short of their promotion ambitions. In front of 33,132 spectators in the Düsseldorf Arena, Emmanuel Iyoha took the lead in the 60th minute, which VfL equalized late on.
The game was overshadowed by a serious accident. A VfL supporter fell several meters over a parapet before kick-off and had to be taken to hospital in an emergency ambulance. His condition was initially described as critical. The all-clear came at the beginning of the second half: “The fan is out of danger!” VfL announced shortly after half-time on X, formerly Twitter.
Due to the misfortune, both fan camps had agreed before kick-off to forego any organized support in the first half. On the pitch, the Düsseldorf team lacked penetration for a long time, despite the higher proportion of the game. In an uneventful first half, Emmanuel Iyoha had the best chance when he hit the post in the 36th minute, also because Osnabrück limited itself to defending and remained pale offensively.
After the break, the former Osnabrück player Iyoha had more luck with his shot. However, his goal did not help calm Fortuna’s game. Instead, Thioune, who spent a long time at VfL as a former player and coach, saw that the guests appeared more courageous offensively. Fortuna was more careless and punished with the late equalizer: a long diagonal ball landed on Wriedt’s head and came via a detour to Engelhardt, who sank the ball from the turn. The guests have now been unbeaten for three games.
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