Leaders Braunschweig continue to grind out results. The Lions were solid against a fighting Dresden squad, and pretty much controlled the match. Dynamo was too weak going forward, and generally ruined promising opportunities. Braunschweig was ruthlessly efficient and the one-two punch of Kruppke and Kumbela finished off the match.
Lautern had their hands full with Sandhausen. Despite FCK jumping out to a blitz-start, they were pegged back almost immediately. The ex-Bundesligists quickly were on top again, but they couldn’t put down the courageous visitors until injury time. A deserved, hard fought win.
An easy win for Hertha in Bochum. The hosts were crap, like they have been all season. The Berliners weren’t overly impressive in the 1st half, but immediately got on track after the restart. After that, it was easy time, as Hertha wasn’t threatened at all by the lame Bochumers.
Cottbus was in a battle with surprising newcomer Aalen. Energie domainted the 1st half, but was unable to convert any chances. After the restart, host Aalen came on strong, and even though Cottbus grabbed a lead, they were unable to hold off VfR. In the end, a draw is a fair result, keeping both clubs in the promotion hunt.
Duisburg remains a disaster. Against Ingolstadt, the Zebras started out brightly, but the visitors were soon pushing them around. FCI seized control and ended up with a solid win.
Köln was headed for another disgraceful 2.Liga turd. The Goats were completely outplayed by hosts Regensburg, not so much because Jahn was playing well, but because Köln was sucking horribly. With only 5 minutes left, they were dead and buried. But then they woke up all of a sudden and kicked Jahn in the balls. The Kölners went beserk and scored 3 times in 8 minutes, salvaging the match. This might be what they need to get back on track. Bitter loss for Regensburg, since they had this one in the bag…
Union Berlin continued their improvement with a hard fought win over FSV Frankfurt. The Berliners dominated, but it wasn’t easy, despite being gifted a huge advantage. In the 16th minute, FSV’s Heitmeier deliberately handled the ball and got his ass tossed. Mattuschka converted the penalty, and it looked an easy win for Union. However the hosts perhaps relaxed too much, and the match became an open battle, with Frankfurt having some chances to equalize. In the end Union gets a deserved win, but it was a lot more nerve wracking than it should have been.
St.Pauli has been a disaster, so they canned their coach. Michael Frontzeck made his debut as Paulista boss, and they showed vast improvement. Against a solid Paderborn squad, the “Kiez-Kicker” dominated the match, creating many chances. However they failed to take advantage, and SCP struck back to equalize, leaving St.Pauli at bottom. Still, at least Frontzeck looks like he might be able to improve things for the Hamburgers.
Monday night is a must win for 1860, who can keep pace with the leaders. Aue desperately needs a result to help in the relegation struggle. Update: 1860 sucked and could only get a draw.
1. FC Kaiserslautern - SV Sandhausen 3:1 (2:1) 27,526
1:0 Idrissou (4., Dick)
1:1 Achenbach (8., Kittner)
2:1 Bunjaku (24., Fortounis)
3:1 Hajri (90. + 2)
MSV Duisburg - FC Ingolstadt 04 0:2 (0:0) 11,577
0:1 Leitl (64., Uludag)
0:2 Caiuby (88., Eigler)
VfL Bochum - Hertha BSC 0:2 (0:0) 13,985
0:1 Kluge (46., Ronny)
0:2 M. Ndjeng (79., Ramos)
Dynamo Dresden - Ein. Braunschweig 0:2 (0:1) 27,513
0:1 Kruppke (37., Kratz)
0:2 Kumbela (79., Reichel)
Jahn Regensburg - 1. FC Köln 2:3 (1:0) 11,985
1:0 J.-P. Müller (5.)
2:0 C. Rahn (67., penalty, J.-P. Müller)
2:1 Ujah (87.)
2:2 Maroh (90.)
2:3 Bigalke (90. + 3)
SC Paderborn 07 - FC St. Pauli 1:1 (0:0) 15,000
0:1 Ginczek (48., Kringe)
1:1 Naki (71., P. Hofmann)
1. FC Union Berlin - FSV Frankfurt 1:0 (1:0) 15,701
1:0 Mattuschka (17., penalty)
VfR Aalen - Energie Cottbus 1:1 (0:0) 6,407
0:1 Sanogo (70., Rippert)
1:1 Dausch (84., Cidimar)
Monday:
1860 München - Erzgebirge Aue 1:1 (0:0) 17,600
0:1 Sylvestr (51., Klingbeil)
1:1 Vallori (66., Bierofka)
Attendance: 147,294 (avg 16,366)
1 Eintracht Braunschweig 10 8 2 0 18:3 +15 26
2 Hertha BSC Berlin (A) 10 6 3 1 18:10 +8 21
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3 1. FC Kaiserslautern (A) 10 5 5 0 18:11 +7 20
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4 Energie Cottbus 10 5 3 2 15:10 +5 18
5 1860 München 10 4 5 1 14:7 +7 17
6 VfR Aalen (N) 10 5 1 4 13:10 +3 16
7 FC Ingolstadt 04 10 4 4 2 13:11 +2 16
8 FSV Frankfurt 10 4 3 3 13:12 +1 15
9 SC Paderborn 07 10 3 3 4 16:13 +3 12
10 1. FC Union Berlin 10 3 3 4 14:15 -1 12
11 1. FC Köln (A) 10 3 3 4 10:12 -2 12
12 Jahn Regensburg (N) 10 3 0 7 11:13 -2 9
13 Dynamo Dresden 10 2 3 5 12:15 -3 9
14 Erzgebirge Aue 10 2 3 5 8:13 -5 9
15 SV Sandhausen (N) 10 2 3 5 9:17 -8 9
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16 VfL Bochum 10 2 3 5 5:14 -9 9
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17 FC St. Pauli 10 1 5 4 7:13 -6 8
18 MSV Duisburg 10 1 2 7 6:21 -15 5
A = Absteiger just Relegated
N = Neuling just promoted
1st line: Promotion to Bundesliga
2nd line: Playoff with 16th Bundesliga
3rd line: Playoff with no.3 of 3.Liga
4th line: Relegation to 3.Liga
Although I’m not really following anyone, the ladder looks interesting. Braunschweig, Hertha and FCK on top, and ex Bundesliga Clubs Bochum, St Pauli and Duisburg at the bottom. Koeln is still a worry, but the make up of the Liga is at least a little interesting.