Round 27, Feb 27-28
Schleswig-Holstein is mostly known for their cows, but another animal is getting recognition now. Holstein Kiel, known as die Störche (the storks), have silently climbed the table and suddenly siezed the spotlight. They thumped high-flying Erfurt to seize 2nd place, and with the best defense in the league (by far), they certainly have the capability to hang tight. As you can see, the fight for promotion is a dogfight, with 2-7 only a win away. Even a club like Dresden could sneak back into the hunt. Against Erfurt, Holstein dominated. Even though RWE tied the match briefly after the restart, Kiel wasn’t bothered at all, piled the pressure on, and the visitors cracked.
At the top sits Bielefeld, which has established themselves as the class of the league. Arminia thumped Unterhaching and sit 9 points above. That should be solid enough for a return to the 2.Liga. The visitors were without a chance and lucky that Arminia turned down the heat in the 2nd period. But the Mini-Münchenkins were probably still happy from their big 4-1 away win midweek at Großaspach in a makeup match, calming their relegation fears.
Stuttgarter Kickers were impressive at Fortuna Köln, getting a solid away win without ever being threatened.
Preußen Münster can’t be too happy with their draw at Wehen. They were the better team and had a chance to really take control, but missed a penalty that would have put them 2-0 up. Instead the hosts fought their way back and salvaged a point.
Cottbus blew a chance to join the leaders, as they were held at Großaspach. But actually, the Sonnenhofer were the better team, and only the woodwork saved Energie from an embarassing loss.
Rostock got a huge away win at Halle and more critical points in the relegation battle. Hansa isn’t out of the woods yet, but at least they have some breathing room.
Regensburg’s mini-revival may be over already. Jahn was beaten at home by Dresden, who desperately needed a result to stop their slide. They were off to a good start as Justin Eilers nailed a hat-trick and Dynamo could seemingly phone the rest in. Bad idea, as Jahn came back and pressed for a draw, but luckily Dresden held on.
Total attendance 59,872 (avg 5,987)
Holstein Kiel - Rot-Weiß Erfurt 4:1 (1:0) 8,006 1. FSV Mainz 05 II - VfB Stuttgart II 0:2 (0:0) 453 Hallescher FC - Hansa Rostock 1:2 (1:0) 11,324 Chemnitzer FC - Borussia Dortmund II 3:1 (1:1) 5,046 Arminia Bielefeld - SpVgg Unterhaching 4:0 (3:0) 12,087 Fortuna Köln - Stuttgarter Kickers 0:2 (0:2) 1,568 VfL Osnabrück - MSV Duisburg 1:1 (1:0) 8,300 SV Wehen Wiesbaden - Preußen Münster 2:2 (0:1) 2,746 Jahn Regensburg - Dynamo Dresden 2:3 (0:3) 8,742 SG S-hof Großaspach - Energie Cottbus 2:2 (1:0) 1,600 1 Arminia Bielefeld (A) 27 17 4 6 56:28 +28 55 2 Holstein Kiel 27 12 10 5 37:19 +18 46 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 MSV Duisburg 27 12 10 5 40:27 +13 46 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 Preußen Münster 27 13 7 7 40:31 +9 46 5 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 27 13 7 7 41:35 +6 46 6 Stuttgarter Kickers 26 12 9 5 41:29 +12 45 7 Energie Cottbus (A) 27 12 8 7 34:28 +6 44 8 Dynamo Dresden (A) 27 11 8 8 34:31 +3 41 9 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 26 11 5 10 41:32 +9 38 10 Fortuna Köln (N) 27 10 6 11 31:28 +3 36 11 Chemnitzer FC 27 10 6 11 27:26 +1 36 12 VfL Osnabrück 27 10 6 11 38:43 -5 36 13 Hallescher FC 26 9 6 11 32:36 -4 33 14 VfB Stuttgart II 26 9 6 11 35:41 -6 33 15 SpVgg Unterhaching 26 8 6 12 38:48 -10 30 16 Hansa Rostock 27 7 7 13 37:52 -15 28 17 Borussia Dortmund II 26 4 12 10 26:35 -9 24 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 SG Sonnenhof Großaspach (N) 26 5 8 13 27:50 -23 23 19 1. FSV Mainz 05 II (N) 26 5 7 14 27:41 -14 22 20 Jahn Regensburg 27 5 4 18 31:53 -22 19 A = Absteiger just relegated N = Neuling just promoted 1st line: Promotion to 2.Liga 2nd line: Promotion Playoff with 2.Liga 16th place 3rd line: Relegation to Regionalliga