Darmstadt 98 did not take advantage of the moment and missed the lead in the 2nd Bundesliga. Seven hours after the surprising 2:2 by leaders FC St. Pauli against Erzgebirge Aue, the “lilies” did not get more than 2:2 (0:1) against their feared opponents Karlsruher SC and remain second. Since some of the competitors also made a mistake, the Darmstadt team still has a four-point lead over third place and four points over five points.
With an own goal, Klaus Gjasula initially put Darmstadt behind (22nd minute), then the midfielder equalized with a header (48th). Just three minutes later, Fabian Holland made the Hessians dream of their first home win against KSC since 1980. But Fabian Schleusener (71st) destroyed it again. The alleged Karlsruher 3: 2 by another own goal of the Darmstadt team in the person of Thomas Isherwood was disallowed after video evidence because of a previous offside position (74th).
A quick free-kick gave KSC the lead: Marvin Wanitzek crossed into the penalty area before Darmstadt were sorted. Gjasula steered the ball into his own goal during an unsuccessful rescue operation. The fact that the guests were ahead after the first half was fortunate. Because Darmstadt was the game-determining team, which also had the majority of goal chances. Luca Pfeiffer had the best opportunity before the change of sides, and he just missed the goal after a cross from Phillip Tietz (25′). Marvin Mehlem had previously missed a shot from the edge of the penalty area (20th).
At the beginning of the second half, Darmstadt acted much more efficiently and turned the game around within three minutes – with a header from Gjasula, which this time found the right goal, and a wonderful shot from Holland from the left side of the box into the right corner of the goal. Against a KSC who seemed confused in this phase, Mehlem failed to add twice. The guests then recovered and equalized with a low shot from Schleusener from eleven meters after a cross. The KSC even managed a third goal, which was disallowed by the video referee.
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