New injury concerns at S04
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Even without the injured top performers Edin Dzeko and Nikola Katic, FC Schalke 04 maintained their lead in the 2nd Bundesliga with a win. There are new injury concerns for the Royal Blues. SC Paderborn can keep up, while Hannover 96 and Elversberg have to give up a bit on the S04 in the promotion race.
Schalke won against Karlsruher SC 1-0 (0-0) and can therefore continue to dream of promotion in the top position, one point ahead of SC Paderborn. In front of more than 62,000 spectators in the sold-out Gelsenkirchen stadium, captain Kenan Karaman scored the decisive goal with a header in the 72nd minute. Schalke not only had to do without top striker Dzeko (shoulder injury) for the game, but also announced before kick-off that defense chief Katic was about to end the season due to a knee injury.
The hosts dominated from the start, but repeatedly failed due to their own lack of concentration or to visiting goalkeeper Hans Christian Bernat. There was hardly any offensive danger from KSC. Even after the break, Schalke created chance after chance before Karaman scored his twelfth goal of the season. However, the captain had to be substituted just a few minutes later due to injury. It was only towards the end that the Baden team launched another final offensive, but were unsuccessful.
Immediately after the final whistle, Karaman himself gave the all-clear: “I think it’s not that bad. I felt a little something and then wanted to go out as a precaution,” said the goalscorer on “Sky”. Next Sunday, Karaman will miss the duel against third-placed SV Elversberg, just like his teammate Mertcan Ayhan, after receiving his fifth yellow card.
SC Paderborn underlines promotion ambitions in Fürth
SC Paderborn has underlined its ambitions to return to the Bundesliga with ice-cold effectiveness. Stefano Marino (51st minute) and substitute Filip Bilbija (86th) led the East Westphalians to 2-0 (0-0) at SpVgg from Fürth and to second place in the table. The defeated Fürthers are still in great danger of relegation in the 2nd league. In front of 12,085 spectators in the Ronhof, the hosts played on a par with the promotion aspirants. But the difference was in the effectiveness of the finish. The hosts only hit the crossbar and post.
In the entertaining game, Noel Futkeu had the greatest opportunity. But Fürth’s attacker pushed the ball just past the goal after strong preparatory work from Sayfallah Ltaief (45th). After the restart, Paderborn’s goalkeeper Dennis Seimen was able to direct Jannik Dehm’s long-range shot onto the crossbar with his fingertips (46′). Then the guests struck ice cold. Marino coolly capitalized on a wonderful through pass from Laurin Curda with a well-placed shot. It was a perfect attack. The Fürth team fought back against the home defeat. Substitute Lukas Reich shot low from a central position – and hit the post. Paderborn then added decisively with Bilbija’s tenth goal of the season.
Draw in the top game between Hannover and Elversberg
Hannover 96 and SV Elversberg missed a big step in the promotion race of the 2nd Bundesliga. Lower Saxony and Saarland drew 1-1 (1-0) in the top game of matchday 28. Elversberg’s Maximilian Rohr (20th) gave the hosts the lead with an own goal after a sharp pass from Hanover’s Noel Aseko. Lukas Petkov (56th) equalized for the guests with a penalty kick after the break and at least gave his coach Vincent Wagner a point on his 40th birthday. As a result of the draw, Hannover 96 remained in fifth place in the table and is still two points behind Elversberger, who slipped into third place in the relegation zone.
The hosts were superior at the start. The Elversberg team stood securely in defense for a long time and tried a few counterattacks. To take the lead, Hannover needed Rohr’s own goal. Until then, the Lower Saxony team and the guests had no clear chances. Only when they took the lead did Lower Saxony create several opportunities and could have extended their lead before the break. One of the best had Rohr again (43′), but his goalkeeper Nicolas Kristof prevented Elversberger’s second own goal of the day.
Hannover initially remained dominant in the second half. Then came the setback: Aseko fouled Elversberg’s Immanuel Pherai. Petkov safely scored his tenth goal of the season. In the period that followed, both teams continued to push for the winning goal. A quarter of an hour before the final whistle, the game petered out – until Benjamin Källman came along: In the 87th minute, with the best chance of the half, he missed the goal by just a few centimeters.
Münster gets a point on Schwartz’s debut – important draw for BTSV
The bottom of the table, Preußen Münster, scored a point in the basement duel against their direct rivals Holstein Kiel in their first competitive game under their new coach Alois Schwartz. With the 0-0 draw, the Bundesliga relegated team from northern Germany remains only two points ahead of Münster. Schwartz took over from Alexander Ende almost two weeks ago.
After the spectacular 3-2 win at VfL Bochum before the international break, the mood of the Kiel team was a little better. After the goalless draw, the club is in the relegation zone. The draw was ultimately justified as both teams caused little danger. In a hard-fought but uneventful game in front of goal, there were hardly any clear chances. Shortly before the end, the guests negligently missed a huge counterattack opportunity.
Eintracht Braunschweig picked up an important point in the relegation battle of the 2nd Bundesliga at home against coach Miroslav Klose’s 1. FC Nürnberg. Thanks to the 1:1 (0:1) score, Lower Saxony is in 14th place with six game days to go, but is only one point ahead of the relegation zone and the first relegation spot. Nuremberg, in eighth place (37), has a reassuring eight-point lead over the relegation zone.
Rabby Nzingoula (17th minute) gave the club the deserved lead before the break. After the change, Jovan Mijatovic (61st) saved a fair draw for the hosts under new coach Lars Kornetka in front of 21,261 spectators.
