At the end of the second division match day, Hamburger SV failed to catch up with the leaders on points. Instead, Magdeburg leaves the relegation zone. Fortuna Düsseldorf jumps up a few places with an away win, while Heidenheim is closing in on HSV.

Karlsruher SC – Fortuna Dusseldorf 0: 2 (0: 2)

Fortuna Düsseldorf took the momentum from the DFB Cup and stopped the negative trend in the 2nd Bundesliga after two recent defeats. Four days after reaching the round of 16 against Jahn Regensburg, the Rhinelanders won 2-0 (2-0) at Karlsruher SC on matchday 13 and moved up to sixth place. The KSC gets stuck in no man’s land of the table.

With his first goals of the season, Kristoffer Peterson (8th/22nd) gave the self-proclaimed promotion contender a comfortable lead. As a result, KSC made an effort, but attacker Fabian Schleusener (39./53.) and substitute Simone Rapp (59.) failed from a promising position. Something odd happened in the 75th minute when Düsseldorf’s Tim Oberdorf shot at both inside posts.

Karlsruhe started actively and put Fortuna under pressure early on with counter-pressing. But Fortuna struck ice cold: both times it went down the left flank, both times Peterson executed, both times Karlsruhe’s Philip Heise acted unluckily. First, the left-back deflected Peterson’s shot to take the lead, then lost sight of the Swede at 0-2.

1. FC Heidenheim – SpVgg Greuther Furth 3: 1 (2: 0)

First division relegated SpVgg Greuther Fürth has missed a step out of the table basement. In the first game after the separation from coach Marc Schneider, the Franconians lost 1: 3 (0: 2) at 1. FC Heidenheim and thus slipped back into a direct relegation zone after four games in a row without defeat.

Meanwhile, Heidenheim, who are now fourth, are keeping their eyes on the top group of the league thanks to goals from captain Patrick Mainka (9th), Tim Kleindienst (33rd) and Jan-Niklas Beste (56th, penalty kick). The interim goal from Branimir Hrgota (52nd) was not enough for the Fürth.

The majority of the 8130 spectators in the Heidenheimer Arena had reason to celebrate early on. After a corner by Beste, Mainka finished completely undisturbed and headed into the far post. The guests from Fürth, who were looked after by interim coach Rainer Widmayer after Schneider’s separation, tried to react afterwards, but failed to develop any danger.

Instead, Heidenheim remained the team with the better chances and increased through Kleindienst with ample help from the Fürth back line. Any hope that arose after Hrgota’s goal was nipped in the bud by Beste after what Fürth saw as a tough penalty decision.

Hamburger SV – 1. FC Magdeburg 2: 3 (0: 1)

After the third defeat in nine days, Hamburger SV is in the middle of a serious sporting crisis. The Hanseatic League lost against 1. FC Magdeburg, bottom of the table, 2:3 (0:1) and thus missed out on the direct second place in promotion.

In front of 55,304 disappointed spectators in the almost sold-out Volksparkstadion, Mo El Hankouri scored the opening goal in the eleventh minute for the guests, coached by former HSV coach Christian Titz. The Dutchman was successful with a low shot from a tight angle. Baris Atik scored again seven minutes after the restart, Ransford Königsdörffer (58′) was able to close the gap before Julian Rieckmann (88′) restored the old gap. The second HSV goal by Tom Sanne (90.3) came too late. For the guests it was the second away win of the current season. With this success, Magdeburg improved to 15th place in the table.

The weakened Hanseatic team, who recently lost in the city derby against FC St. Pauli (0: 3) and in the DFB Cup at RB Leipzig (0: 4), only found themselves better after the 0: 2 deficit and a triple change the party. In the final phase, the North Germans pushed with all their might for more goals, but it was only enough to connect. In the final seconds, HSV keeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes was on the move as an additional striker, but Magdeburg successfully braced themselves against the equalizer with the help of the crossbar.