Will promotion to the Bundesliga finally work out this season? Hamburger SV doesn’t give up and keeps fighting. But 1. FC Heidenheim isn’t giving up either – on this 21st match day of the 2nd division, one person is really coming up trumps. For Sandhausen, on the other hand, it is becoming increasingly bitter.
Karlsruher SC continued its upward trend in the 2nd Bundesliga and gained more breathing room in the relegation battle. Coach Christian Eichner’s team won the neighborhood duel against the new tail light SV Sandhausen, also deservedly 3-0 (1-0).
Jerome Gondorf (8th), Mikkel Kaufmann (52nd) and Fabian Schleusener (73rd) scored for Baden, who after the liberation against SpVgg Greuther Fürth (2:1) in the previous week brought the next important success – the situation in the table cellar remains tense. For SVS, who slipped to the bottom of the table after Jahn Regensburg won a point on Saturday, it was their fourth competitive defeat in a row.
KSC got off to a better start in the basement duel: Gondorf reacted the quickest after a low cross and pushed in to take the lead. At Sandhausen nothing went forward for a long time. That changed when Alexander Esswein scored (49′), but goals were scored again by Karlsruhe. At the end of an attack worth seeing, Kaufmann struck from the back, Schleusener increased against the hosts who had no chance.
Top scorer Tim Kleindienst gave 1. FC Heidenheim an important victory in the promotion race with a four-pack. Coach Frank Schmidt’s team won 5-0 (3-0) against 1. FC Nürnberg and claimed third place. The club with coach Markus Weinzierl must continue to look down with concern.
Kleindienst made everything clear with a hat trick in the first half (19th, 23rd and 39th). When he scored his third goal, Heidenheim was already in the majority because FCN captain Enrico Valentini saw red after a gross foul on Jan-Niklas Beste (33rd). Kleindienst followed up with his number 15 goal of the season (81st), Marnon Busch (86th) finished the game.
Heidenheim ended his short dry spell after two games without a win. Florian Pick prepared two of the Kleindienst goals. 1. FCN, most recently with two important successes in the cup and league, made some hair-raising mistakes in defense. Outnumbered, the guests could hardly free themselves in the second half, but were more stable – until the final phase.
In the fight for promotion, Hamburger SV stays close to leaders Darmstadt 98. The Hanseatic League defeated Arminia Bielefeld, who had been relegated to the first division, 2-1 (1-0) and are still four points behind the Hessians. The lead over third-placed 1. FC Heidenheim is still four points.
In front of 52,000 spectators in the Volksparkstadion, Ludovit Reis scored the opening goal of the day in the 26th minute. After Bastian Oczipka equalized (51′), Bakery Jatta restored the old lead six minutes later. However, the North Germans were lucky that referee Daniel Siebert decided against a penalty in the 22nd minute after studying the TV images after a duel between Jonas Meffert and Sebastian Vasiliadis.
The victory for coach Tim Walter’s team was deserved. In the first half in particular, East Westphalia risked far too little to seriously jeopardize the hosts’ goal. After the change of sides, the game became livelier, primarily because the guests had more confidence on the offensive.