From 2nd to 7th place
©IMAGO
Hamburger SV missed a return to second place in the 2nd Bundesliga in the second game under the direction of interim coach Merlin Polzin. In the 34-year-old’s home debut as temporary coach, the North Germans deservedly failed to score more than 2-2 (2-1) against the strong SV Darmstadt 98 at the Volksparkstadion. The Hessians have remained unbeaten in the league since the end of September.
In a highly entertaining game, Ransford Königsdörffer (10th minute) and Adam Karabec (45th) scored the goals for the Hanseatic League with a dream goal. Aleksandar Vukotic (33rd) and Kilian Corredor (63rd) each equalized for the Lilies. In front of the 51,616 spectators, HSV appeared far too passive at times.
The Darmstadt team, who lost their DFB Cup round of 16 in Bremen 0-1 on Tuesday, gained significantly more possession of the ball in the first half. HSV benefited from a successful transition and a great pass from Jean-Luc Dompé to Königsdörffer, who made it 1-0. On the other side, central defender Vukotic equalized with a header.
HSV came back with a stroke of genius. Daniel Elfadli quickly took a free kick and midfielder Karabec flicked the ball irresistibly into the top left corner. In the second half, the guests continued to be slightly superior in many respects. The strong Corredor scored to equalize. Elfadli failed for HSV with a header that hit the crossbar. Hamburg goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes saved his team from conceding another goal shortly before the end with two saves. Substitute Davie Selke also missed a great chance to make it 3-2.
Fortuna Düsseldorf wins again: three goals after 11 minutes
Fortuna Düsseldorf has achieved success again after five unsuccessful games in a row. Coach Daniel Thioune’s team got rid of all their frustration in the 5-0 (3-0) win against Eintracht Braunschweig on matchday 15.
After just over ten minutes the game was decided with a score of 3-0 against the overwhelmed relegation candidates. Dawid Kownacki (4th and 11th minutes) and Ísak Jóhannesson (8th and 70th) each scored braces. Substitute Dzenan Pejcinovic finished the game with his goal (87th).
Thanks to the sweeping victory, Fortuna, which had led the table for weeks before the results crisis, jumped back to fifth place. The gap to league leaders SC Paderborn is now only two points. Eintracht is 15th in the table. just one point above the relegation zone.
1. FC Köln wins in Regensburg and stays at the top
1. FC Köln cannot currently be beaten and remains at the forefront of the promotion race. The Domstadt team celebrated a 1-0 (1-0) win against bottom team SSV Jahn Regensburg. This means that Cologne is still only one point behind the promotion zone.
FC coach Gerhard Struber’s strong team won six of their last seven competitive games. The Regensburg team suffered their eleventh defeat in 15 games of the season and failed to catch up with the teams in front of them in the relegation battle.
The match winner in front of 14,323 spectators in the Jahnstadion was striker Tim Lemperle with his winning goal in the 33rd minute. FC’s top scorer this season used a strong pass from Florian Kainz, but was injured in the action and had to be substituted immediately afterwards.
It didn’t help the Regensburg team that goalkeeper Felix Gebhardt made a remarkable save on a hand penalty from Dejan Ljubicic in the 19th minute. Ljubicic scored the celebrated 2-1 winning goal in extra time in the DFB Cup against Hertha BSC from the spot during the week. His mistake this time had no consequences for Cologne.