Darmstadt finally clinched promotion back to the top flight after two previous defeats had delayed the inevitable. HSV and Heidenheim remain in contention for the other automatic spot while Sandhausen were put out of their misery and will be in the 3.Liga next season. The final matchday next week will see the battle for relegation resolved.
Darmstadt 1-0 Magdeburg
After delaying the party for two weeks following successive defeats, Darmstadt finally confirmed their promotion back to the Bundesliga with a 1-0 win over Magdeburg, although they will have to wait until next weekend to see whether they go up as champions. A 36th minute Phillip Tietz goal at the Böllenfalltor was enough to seal the vital three points and start the party for real.
Holstein Kiel 3-4 St. Pauli
A turbulent Northern derby saw seven goals and a red card as St. Pauli overcame Kiel 4-3 at the Holstein Stadion to cement fourth place. A Steven Skrzybski penalty opened the scoring for the home side before an equaliser before half time from English striker Oladapo Afolayan.
A Hauke Wahl own goal and strikes from Lukas Daschner and Leart Paqarada put the Kiezkicker in control, only for a late fight back from the hosts. Marco Komenda pulled one back before Afolayan was sent off for collecting a second yellow card. Fabian Reese’s 93rd minute goal came too late to give them chance to get themselves level.
Arminia Bielefeld 2-2 Paderborn
Bielefeld missed the opportunity to extricate themselves from the bottom three with a stalemate at home to Paderborn. The point sees the Arminen remain in 16th and in the relegation play-off berth.
They made the ideal start when Bryan Lasme fired them into an 8th minute lead, but Marvin Pieringer levelled on 25 minutes. The home side’s lead was restored before the interval through midfielder Sebastian Vasiliadis. The visitors however wouldn’t lie down and were back on level terms via Sirlord Conteh on the hour mark. Bielefeld now face a make-or-break weekend next week when they travel to Magdeburg.
Heidenheim 1-0 Sandhausen
It was a case of hugely differing emotions at the Voith Arena as Sandhausen’s relegation was confirmed while Heidenheim maintained their grip on the second automatic promotion spot with one game still to play. Jan-Niklas Beste’s 11th goal of the season was the only goal of the game as Heidenheim kept their Bundesliga dream on track. Having toyed with relegation for the past two years, the inevitable return to the 3.Liga was confirmed by Sandhausen’s loss.
Eintracht Braunschweig v Jahn Regensburg
Regensburg won the basement battle against Braunschweig, but the win looks to be too little, too late to save them from the drop. Eintracht also face a nervous time as they are still not safe from finishing in the relegation play-off position.
Immanuel Pherai scored an early second minute goal before Greek striker Charalambos Makridis equalised. Prince Osei Owusu missed a penalty soon after, but made amends minutes into the second half with the visitors second. Makridis saw red in stoppage time after collecting a second booking
Hamburg 2-1 Greuther Fürth
HSV will go into next weekend’s final fixture with bottom side Sandhausen still with a chance of automatic promotion. They remain a point behind Heidenheim, who face troubled Jahn Regensburg next week.
Miro Muheim scored his second in successive games before a Laszlo Benes penalty in the second half made things more comfortable. Lukas Petkov pulled one back for Fürth to make it interesting before red cards were dished out to Bakery Jatta (HSV) and Dickson Abiama (Fürth).
Nürnberg 0-0 Hansa Rostock
Der Klub earned a point at home to Rostock, but it was not enough to secure their safety and they will have to endure a nail-biting end to the season, where a bottom three finish is still a possibility. The Bavarians face Paderborn away next weekend where they will need a win to avoid Bielefeld potentially leapfrogging them. The point secures Rostock’s place in the 2.Bundesliga next season.
Fortuna Düsseldorf 3-3 Hannover
Fortuna staged a sterling comeback from two-goals down against Hannover, but still had to share the spoils at the Merkur Spiel-Arena on Sunday. Cedric Teuchert and Louis Schaub had the visitors 2-0 up with just 21 minutes played, before Felix Klaus pulled one back on the half hour mark.
Klaus equalised seven minutes into the second period before the hosts capped their comeback with a Daniel Ginczek goal on 77 minutes. There was however to be no happy ending with Hannover grabbing an 89th minute equaliser through Maxi Beier.
Karlsruhe 2-0 Kaiserslautern
KSC jumped above Kaiserslautern into seventh on goal difference with a 2-0 win at the BBBank Wildpark. Georgian Budu Zivzivadze scored the opener immediately after coming on in the 71st minute. The lead was doubled and the better goal difference achieved with a 95th minute goal from Paul Nebel.
