After a break last week for the first round of the DFB Pokal, it was a return to 2. Bundesliga action this weekend with a full round of fixtures on matchday 3. Hertha Berlin continue to suffer a nightmare start, while no side now has a 100% record.
Kaiserslautern 3-2 Elversberg
After starting with two successive defeats, Kaiserslautern managed to notch up their first three points of the season with a thrilling 3-2 victory of Elversberg at the Betzenberg on Friday night to open the weekend.
The opener was a curious one with Kevin Kraus first scoring in the 17th minute only for it to be ruled out for offside. But then a second VAR intervention handed the home side a penalty for a handball in the build-up to the same disallowed goal. Kraus stepped up confidently to fire home. Elversberg have shown in the early stages of the season that they are not going to be overawed and they duly equalised a minute into the second half with a fine strike from Manuel Feil.
They were ahead on the hour mark after a slick passing move was finished clinically by Semih Sahin. The lead however didn’t last too long with Ragnar Ache heading in the equaliser on 68 minutes after a deep cross from Jean Zimmer. Zimmer then grabbed what turned out to be the winner with a stunning volley dispatched in the 79th minute following a cross from sub Daniel Hanslik.
Wehen Wiesbaden 1-0 Karlsruhe
Newly promoted Wiesbaden spent Friday night sitting at the top of the Bundesliga following their 1-0 win over KSC. The only goal of the game came in the 21st minute and it was a real cracker with Korean midfielder Hyun-Ju Lee curling home a superb shot from outside the area into the top-right corner. Karlsruhe were largely without inspiration, although substitute Budu Zivzivadze did see a potential late equaliser ruled out for offside.
Fortuna Düsseldorf 1-2 Paderborn
Paderborn secured their first win of the new season at Düsseldorf, who suffered their first home loss this calendar year. The visitors made the perfect start when David Kinsombi set up Florent Muslija with a pull back from the right after just five minutes.
The hosts came more and more into the games from the half hour mark, but had to wait until the 57th minutes for their deserved equaliser. Jordy de Wijs rose to power home a corner from Shinta Appelkamp. Paderborn however responded immediately and restored their lead two minutes later via Sirlord Conteh. A swift counterattack caught Fortuna out with Filip Bilbija providing the killer final pass.
Greuther Fürth 0-0 St. Pauli
Fürth and St. Pauli shared the points at the Ronhof Sportpark, which basked in 30 degree sunshine on Saturday. The games best chances were saved for a frantic final few minutes with both sides having chances to snatch the points. Saves were made and the visitors’ Andreas Albers has a 97th minute goal ruled out for offside.
Hansa Rostock 1-2 Hannover
Hansa saw their 100% start to the season end with Hannover grabbing their first win of the season at the Ostseestadion. The hosts had won their Pokal match via penalties, whereas the visitors had lost their Pokal shoot-out.
A stunning chipped finish from Phil Neumann gave Hannover the lead in the 22nd minute, but an own goal from the same player just before the hour mark got Rostock level. The defender inexplicably headed past Ron-Robert Zieler as he totally misjudged a deep cross into the box.
There was to be a final goal and it was Hannover, who scored it. VAR spotted a handball in the 84th minute and Cedric Teuchert fired home the resulting penalty to seal the points for the Niedersachsen side.
Hamburg 3-0 Hertha Berlin
Hertha’s painful start to life in the 2.Bundesliga continued on Saturday evening with their third consecutive loss leaving them bottom of the table. Hamburg found life easy against the relegated side and eased to a 3-0 win that puts them joint op of the table.
After seeing a goal ruled out in the 18th minute and being denied a penalty, HSV duly opened the scoring seven minutes before half time through Gambian Bakery Jatta. Glatzel found him in acres of space and he produced a fine finish. The lead was doubled before the interval when HSV were given a penalty for handball- Laszlo Benes dispatched the spot-kick.
Robert Glatzel then scored his customary goal in the 82nd minute to add some sheen to the result with the Hertha defence nowhere to be seen. Hertha are now the only club yet to score a single point this season from three matches.
Holstein Kiel 2-4 Magdeburg
Magdeburg ended Kiel’s 100% start to the season with a 4-2 win at the Holstein Stadion on Sunday. The visitors took the lead as early as the second minute when a crazy back pass from Philipp Sander played in Magdeburg’s Luca Schuler, who made the most of the gift given to him. A second arrived to double their lead on 22 minutes when Jean Hugonet found the back of the net. Kiel were once again the authors of their own downfall with slapstick goalkeeping from Thomas Dähne contributing.
Kiel however found a way to claw themselves back into the game from nothing. Steven Skrzybski kept his cool to fire past Dominik Reiman just after the half hour mark. Five minutes into the second period, Sander made up for his earlier aberration with the equaliser. After a long throw from Maschino, he needed two attempts, but managed to fire the ball home.
Magdeburg weren’t to be cowed though and former Inter Milan and Frankfurt forward Luc Castaignos put them back in front just four minutes after his introduction as a substitute. The result was put beyond doubt in the 91st minute when Ahmet Arslan scored against his former club on his return.
Eintracht Braunschweig 1-0 Schalke
Having met in the Pokal first round last weekend, it was a repeat performance for Braunschweig and Schalke in the league on Sunday with the home side gaining revenge for their previous loss to the Königsblauen.
A mis-placed pass from Tauer was punished by Anthony Ujah, who set up Fabio Kaufmann for the opener on 21 minutes. There was no further scoring and even a late red card to Brian Behrendt couldn’t stop the party. It is a second defeat in three games for Schalke, who like Hertha are finding life far from easy in the 2.Bundesliga.
VfL Osnabrück 2-3 Nürnberg
Nürnberg bagged their first win of the season and kept Osnabrück winless with a 3-2 win to round off the weekend’s action.
Nürnberg’s opener when it arrived on 35 minutes came unsurprisingly from teenage star Can Uzun. The 17-year-old bagged two goals against Hannover on matchday two and then scored a hat trick in the Pokal win over Oberneuland last weekend. Der Club thought they had made it 2-0 on the hour with Kanji Okunuki heading after keeper Lennart Grill failed to deal with a cross from substitute Benjamin Goller, but the goal was ruled out for an offside.
The second goal did however come soon after with midfielder Lukas Schleimer firing in a powerful shot from 18 meters. Goller then put the icing on the cake with a third goal added five minutes from time. The hosts however pulled back a consolation straight away with Christian-Joe Conteh getting his name on the scoresheet with a powerful shot past Christian Mathenia. Conteh added a second, but it was nothing more than a cosmetic flash at the end.
