2nd league
Düsseldorf (AP) – Thanks to the returnee Sonny Kittel, Hamburger SV remains a hot candidate in the traditionally tight promotion race in the 2nd Bundesliga.
Coach Tim Walter’s team celebrated a 2-0 (0-0) win against 1. FC Heidenheim thanks to Kittel’s brace (63rd minute and 78th, penalty kick) and thus the third win in a row against a top team after the 5th minute :0 in Darmstadt and the 2:1 against St. Pauli.
With 40 points, HSV came within one point of arch-rival and leader Werder Bremen, who celebrated their seventh consecutive win under new coach Ole Werner in a 2-1 win in Rostock on Friday. The two founding members of the Bundesliga meet on February 27th in the Volksparkstadion. FC St. Pauli (38 points), who play against Jahn Regensburg in the top game on Saturday evening (8.30 p.m. / Sport1), Darmstadt 98 (39) before the game against Hannover 96 and Schalke 04 (37) before the west duel, are also in the middle Fortuna Düsseldorf (both Sunday 1.30 p.m./Sky).
FCN loses
For the time being, 1. FC Nürnberg (33) seems to be out of the running for a return, for which a week after the 0:5 against Ingolstadt it was 1:4 (1:1) at Karlsruher SC. Paderborn (32) gambled away better prospects in the top flight because of the chronic weakness at home.
“You know from the people of Heidenheim that they run like crazy. But we can also run like crazy and play football,” said match winner Kittel. He was absent from the Robert Glatzel Festival in Darmstadt because of a yellow card suspension. On Saturday he came on for David Kinsombi. Unlike in previous years, HSV seems to be able to gain in the second half of the season. Kittel: “I know that you don’t like to hear that. But we think from game to game. Everything else makes no sense.”