Kaiserslautern went into the derby against KSC with great hope for a turnaround. But what followed was a gray afternoon.
1. FC Kaiserslautern lost the derby home game against Karlsruher SC 4-0 and experienced a real debacle. The “Red Devils” are falling deeper and deeper into the crisis and remain in 16th place in the 2nd Bundesliga for the time being. If Rostock wins a point on Sunday, coach Friedhelm Funkel’s team would even slip to 17th place.
In the parallel games, promotion hopeful Hannover lost to bottom team Osnabrück. Eintracht Braunschweig and Hertha BSC ended in a draw. The Berliners played in the majority in the final quarter of an hour.
1. FC Kaiserslautern – Karlsruher SC
1. FC Kaiserslautern is also staggering towards relegation under old coach Friedhelm Funkel. The former champions lost 4-0 (0-0) to Karlsruher SC in their second game under Funkel and could slip into a direct relegation spot on Sunday. On Funkel’s debut, he at least managed to win a point in Nuremberg.
Marvin Wanitzek (51st), Igor Matanovic (58th), Paul Nebel (81st) and Budu Siwziwadze (90th + 1) scored the goals for KSC, which is firmly in the middle of the table. It was Karlsruhe’s third away win of the season.
After a minute’s silence for the late former world champion Andreas Brehme, the encounter only slowly picked up speed. Funkel had imposed a defensive basic order on the hosts. Karlsruhe dominated the game, but the guests didn’t have any great chances in the first half. Kaiserslautern also remained imprecise and harmless in the transition game.
After the change the game gained more momentum. Just 25 seconds after the restart, Marlon Ritter missed the Red Devils’ lead, and shortly afterwards Wanitzek made it better after a nice pass from Dzenis Burnic. Matanovic added his eighth goal of the season, fog made the final decision.
VfL Osnabrück – Hannover 96
Hannover 96 has suffered a serious setback in the fight for the promotion places. Coach Stefan Leitl’s team lost 0-1 (0-0) to the bottom of the table, VfL Osnabrück, with a goal from Erik Engelhardt (61st) and thus missed the jump to third place.
For Hannover it was the first defeat of the year after four wins. Hamburger SV can increase its lead over Lower Saxony to four points when coach Steffen Baumgart makes his debut on Sunday.
Eintracht Braunschweig – Hertha BSC
Hertha BSC failed to shorten the gap to the promotion ranks. After two wins in a row, coach Pal Dardai’s team only managed a 1-1 (0-1) draw at Eintracht Braunschweig and is stuck in the middle of the table.
Fabio Kaufmann (14th) gave Eintracht the lead, but substitute Ibrahim Maza (52nd) managed to end Braunschweig’s home series with the equalizer. Coach Daniel Scherning’s team had previously won three home games in a row. Eintracht defender Hasan Kurucay was shown a red card for serious foul play (77′). The lead over direct relegation is currently two points.