Seven-goal cracker in Paderborn
Referees must interrupt second division matches
Fan protests also characterize the Sunday games in the 2nd Bundesliga. In Hanover, the teams are ordered to the dressing room, and there is also a forced break in Elversberg. In Paderborn, the East Westphalians are engaged in a wild exchange of blows with Fortuna Düsseldorf.
SC Paderborn – Fortuna Düsseldorf 4:3 (3:0)
The cup heroes of Fortuna Düsseldorf are still lagging behind in the race for promotion in the 2nd Bundesliga. Four days after reaching the semi-finals in a penalty shootout against FC St. Pauli, the Rhinelanders lost 3:4 (0:3) to SC Paderborn despite a comeback. After only one win in five games, hopes of returning to the top flight are fading more and more.
David Kinsombi (19th), Mattes Hansen (34th), Filip Bilbija (37th) and Koen Kostons (82nd) scored the goals for Paderborn, who played their 500th second division game. Yannik Engelhardt (49th), winter signing Marlon Mustapha (55th) and Dennis Jastrzembski (90th) shortened the deficit in the meantime. The East Westphalians drew level on points with Fortuna, who failed to reduce the gap to third place to two points.
Fortuna’s hopes of promotion are fading.
(Photo: dpa)
Düsseldorf began cautiously, leaving the initiative to the hosts. Paderborn consequently took the lead: Raphael Obermair moved away on the right wing and set up Kinsombi, who was completely free to shoot. It was the East Westphalians' first goal of the year. It was only after half an hour that Fortuna first came close to Paderborn's goal with a header from Ao Tanaka (31'). But the visitors' defense was shaky: first Hansen was lucky that the ball bounced at his feet. Then Bilbija took advantage of some strong preparatory work from Kostons.
After the break, Fortuna looked like a different team – and suddenly the game was open again. Paderborn recovered and profited from a mistake by Düsseldorf keeper Florian Kastenmeier to make it 4:2. But even that was not the end of the game.
Hannover 96 – Hansa Rostock 2:1 (1:1)
Accompanied by renewed massive fan protests against the entry of investors into German professional football, Hannover 96 has fueled its hopes of promotion. Coach Stefan Leitl's team won its home game against relegation candidate Hansa Rostock 2:1 (1:1) and moved five points closer to the relegation place. The game had to be interrupted for a total of around 20 minutes after tennis balls were continuously flying from the stands onto the pitch.
Marcel Halstenberg (78th), who was shown the red card for kicking shortly before the final whistle, secured the second win in a row. An own goal by Kevin Schumacher (4th) had put the favorites in the lead before Kai Pröger (45th+5) managed to equalize. After their success against Elversberg last week, Rostock are still in the relegation zone.
In Hanover, the fans diligently collected what they brought onto the pitch.
(Photo: dpa)
Hannover got off to a dream start in terms of sport, Schumacher deflected the first corner of the game from birthday boy Derrick Köhn into his own goal. After that, the game barely flowed because of the protests. Hannover dealt with the strange situation a little better and created more chances. Pröger's equalizer after a fatal misplaced pass from Ron-Robert Zieler came out of nowhere. In total, the first half lasted a good 65 minutes.
In the second half, an intense battle of attrition developed in midfield, with Andreas Voglsammer initially failing to score the best chance in front of Markus Kolke (70'). Then Halstenberg pushed another corner from Köhn over the line at the far post. Zieler had to save several more times in the closing stages.
SV Elversberg – 1. FC Kaiserslautern 2:1 (1:1)
Four days after reaching the DFB Cup semi-finals, 1. FC Kaiserslautern has landed hard on earth. Coach Dimitrios Grammozis' team lost 1:2 (1:1) to newly promoted SV Elversberg and is still deep in the relegation battle with 21 points from 20 games. The Saarland team, on the other hand, climbed into the top half of the table with 28 points.
Bayern loan player Paul Wanner (19th) put the league newcomer in the lead, Ragnar Ache (45th+6) equalized in a spectacular fashion. After the break, Thore Jacobsen (56th) scored the final goal with a handball penalty and secured Elversberg's first league victory since the end of November. Province instead of capital, small stands instead of a sold-out Olympic Stadium: The Red Devils were faced with a contrasting program to the hot cup night at Hertha BSC. Despite the busy week, FCK was more active at the beginning, but then fell behind.
Because the away fans threw lemons onto the pitch in protest against the German Football League (DFL), referee Deniz Aytekin stopped the match for four minutes after just under half an hour. The game continued in a similar fashion until half-time: Kaiserslautern had more of the possession, while Elversberg waited for counterattacks. The hosts then came out on top in an open second half.
