The last Saturday conference before the World Cup break in the 2nd Bundesliga is a tough one. There are goals en masse, even in stoppage time. For example at 1. FC Heidenheim, who continues to play at the top with the home win. Together with Hamburger SV he is putting pressure on leaders Darmstadt.
Hamburger SV is hot on their heels in the promotion race of the 2nd Bundesliga. The Hanseatic League won on the 17th match day against SV Sandhausen 4:2 (1:0) and stayed in second place, for the time being the lilies are only one point away. The leader plays against SpVgg Greuther Fürth on Sunday.
Scorer Robert Glatzel (27th/80th) with his goals ten and eleven this season and Ludovit Reis (56th) scored for the defensively vulnerable HSV, Alexander Schirow (74th) scored an own goal. Cebio Soukou (50th) and Christian Kinsombi (68th) scored the goals for the sand houses (16 points), who are stuck in the table basement.
Three days after the 1-0 defeat in Fürth, the hosts started powerfully in front of 55,246 spectators. After a long ball from Miro Muheim, Glatzel converted Jean-Luc Dompe’s cross into a deserved lead. At the break, however, the Hamburgers had to be blamed for poor exploitation of chances. Things got off to a turbulent start after the restart, with HSV not conceding a goal in the eighth game in a row after some hair-raising mistakes. Only Glatzel ensured a reassuring leadership for Hamburg and sat at the top of the scorer list.
1. FC Heidenheim underpinned its promotion ambitions with a lucky win after a wild final phase. Coach Frank Schmidt’s team won a highly entertaining game against Jahn Regensburg 5:4 (3:2) and is third in the table going into the long World Cup and winter break.
Stefan Schimmer (90. 4) scored the final point in stoppage time, two minutes earlier Regensburg’s Aygün Yildirim (90. 2) had scored the 4:4. Previously, Tim Kleindienst (21st/39th), Adrian Beck (36th) and Denis Thomalla (76th) for Heidenheim and Prince Osei Owusu (14th), Charalambos Makridis (45th 1) and Nicklas Shipnoski (55th) hit for the Jahn.
Regensburg had other great chances in front of 9695 spectators: But Blendi Idrizi (60th) only hit the post. Makridis shot wide of the empty goal from six yards out. Both teams will continue in the 2nd league in eleven weeks. Heidenheim welcomes Hansa Rostock on January 28th, Regensburg joins top-ranked Darmstadt 98 in the second half of the season.
FC St. Pauli missed an important liberation in a completely crazy crisis duel, but saved a point with great morale. Coach Timo Schultz’s team drew 4:4 (3:3) at Karlsruher SC. The Hamburgers have been waiting for a win for five games and can theoretically still fall into a direct relegation zone on Sunday.
Double packer Fabian Schleusener (12th/31st), Marvin Wanitzek (16th) and Mikkel Kaufmann (50th) scored the goals of the home team in front of 21,487 spectators in Karlsruhe, which with the first point win after five defeats in a row at least a small sense of achievement celebrated. The two-time goalscorer Johannes Eggestein (24th/43rd), Eric Smith (43rd) and Lukas Daschner (61st) scored for the guests.
Before kick-off, the home fans had set off pyrotechnics. The smoke that developed in the process spread throughout the stadium and caused the kick-off to be delayed by almost 15 minutes. As the KSC later announced, there were “10-15 injuries from inhaling the smoke who had to be treated on an outpatient basis”.
There was hardly a break on the pitch in the first round, KSC was 2-0 and 3-1 in the lead, the guests came back twice. The picture was the same in the second half: KSC once again celebrated through Kaufmann, Daschner scored the equalizer after just under an hour.
