2. Liga
St. Pauli shortens the deficit – 96 celebrates a home win
Oladapo Afolayan (2nd from left) was St. Pauli’s match winner in the home win against Regensburg. photo
© Christian Charisius/dpa
St. Pauli continues to stir up the 2nd league and celebrated a record. In three weeks, the derby will increase at third-placed HSV. Heidenheim lost two points late.
Three weeks before the big Hamburg derby, FC St. Pauli has risen to become the first pursuer of the three top teams in the 2nd Bundesliga with a record mark.
The Kiez-Kicker, who have been unbeaten for eleven games, celebrated their ninth win in a row in a 1-0 (1-0) win over Jahn Regensburg and also took fourth place in the table with 44 points ahead of Fortuna Düsseldorf (43). The gap to third-placed Hamburger SV has fallen to six points.
Pauli was also able to catch up with 1. FC Heidenheim. Second in the table had to settle for a 2-2 (0-0) win at 1. FC Kaiserslautern after conceding two goals in added time. The guests had already led 2:0 through Tim Kleindienst (53rd) and Florian Pick (75th), the big chance to make it 3:0 was missed by Kleindienst with a missed penalty kick (90th + 2). Nicolas de Préville (90′ + 3′) and Philipp Hercher (90′ + 5′) scored a double for Kaiserslautern to win a point that was no longer thought possible.
This makes St. Pauli coach Fabian Hürzeler the first second division coach to win his first nine games. The hosts benefited from an own goal by Regensburg’s Prine Osei Owusu (23rd minute) in the hard-fought victory.
The joy in the neighborhood was correspondingly great. “There are worse things than nine wins in a row. I don’t think anyone in our team has ever experienced that. And it won’t happen that often anymore. So let’s enjoy the moment and hope that the nine will become a ten,” said St Pauli defender Leart Paqarada.
Braunschweig scores at the KSC
In the fight against relegation, Eintracht Braunschweig missed the second away win, but was able to leave the relegation rank with the 1-1 (1-0) at Karlsruher SC. The Lower Saxony were in the lead for a long time thanks to a goal from Lion Lauterbach (3rd) before Leon Jensen (69th) equalized. After nine consecutive games without a win, Hannover 96 celebrated a 3-1 (1-1) win against bottom-placed SV Sandhausen.
Table leaders SV Darmstadt 98 had already underpinned their chances of promotion and secured first place with a 1-0 win at 1. FC Nürnberg. An own goal by Christopher Schindler (31st) ensured the victory for the Hessians.
In the top game at Fortuna Düsseldorf, Hamburger SV missed out on the promotion places with a 2-2 win. For the Dusseldorf, the promotion to third place should no longer be an issue with a seven-point deficit. Hamburg also benefited from an own goal by Düsseldorf’s Christoph Klarer in the 2-2 equalizer. “In the end it’s a draw that doesn’t help either team,” said HSV midfielder Jonas Meffert.
