Karaman scores twice
©IMAGO
FC Schalke 04 surprisingly ended the streak of leaders SC Paderborn and collected important points in the fight against relegation. In the 4:2 (2:1) on Friday evening, the Revierklub showed its best performance of the season so far and inflicted East Westphalia’s second defeat of the season. Previously, coach Lukas Kwasniok’s Paderborn team had not lost five times in a row. This means the promotion race remains exciting.
Goals from Moussa Sylla (23rd minute) and Janik Bachmann (88th) as well as a brace from Kenan Karaman (43rd/69th) ensured Schalke’s victory. The Royal Blues initially moved away from the relegation zone with 16 points after 15 games. Koen Kostons (11th) and Felix Götze (52nd) scored for Paderborn. Despite the defeat, the SCP remains leaders. However, the pursuers can move closer at the weekend.
Schalke earned the win with a very committed performance, the likes of which had not been seen from coach Kees van Wonderen’s team for a long time. Overall, not enough came from Paderborn.
Elversberg dupes 1. FC Nürnberg and climbs to second place
SV Elversberg has dealt 1. FC Nürnberg the next setback and is at least temporarily climbing to second place in the 2nd Bundesliga table. Due to the Saarland team’s 2-1 (1-1) win, FCN remains without a win in the fifth league game in a row and is currently missing out on the promotion zone.
Tom Zimmerschied (44th) and Muhammed Damar (53rd) scored the goals for the hosts in front of 9,323 spectators in the Ursapharm Arena at Kaiserlinde. Jens Castrop (14th) initially put Nuremberg in the lead. The SVE now has 25 points, Nuremberg in twelfth still has 19.
It was a brisk start from both teams. Elversberg had the first big chance through Lukas Pinckert (2nd). But the central defender’s header landed on the inside post. Almost in return, Mahir Emreli was denied by Elversberg’s keeper Nicolas Kristof. Castrop rewarded the guests’ strong start with the lead.
After that, the Franks retreated more and more, played very passively and managed their lead. The home team took advantage of this and equalized before the break. Elversberg came out of the locker room with pressure and created further chances. Damar rewarded the effort with the 2-1. Nuremberg then invested significantly more and developed opportunities. Elversberg held on and fought for victory.