Some slight upsets this round, as some of the favorites got reminded that there are no easy matches.
Greuther Fürth hosting 1. FC Köln was the most anticipated match, but it was basically a snoozer. Neither side did much going forward, and both teams had solid defense, so they just kicked the ball back and forth and then went off to the pub. Nevertheless, Greuthers must be fairly happy sitting on top already with a cushion.
1860 of course got dumped in Paderborn, so they lose pace. Not unexpected, as the Müncheners are one of the liga’s most underperforming sides in several seasons now.
Düsseldorf got back on track with a derby win over Bochum.
A stunner in Aalen, as struggling VfR ripped favored Kaiserslautern’s ass. FCK was totally out of rhythym in this one, and almost immediately after the Devils fell behind on an own goal, Idrissou got his ass red carded, and Aalen came out firing on all cylinders in the 2nd half and routed the promotion challengers.
Cottbus looked like a challenger last week, but they went down ugly with two red cards and a loss at Aue. Erzgebirge needed this, and it just goes to show that the eastern clubs will not do each other any favors. The win at least gives indication that they want to play a role in the promotion race. They played hard and didn’t let a somewhat contraversial penalty stop their attack. Energie will be put out since their best player Sanogo went psycho and chopped down an opponent to get a red card and likely a lengthy ban, and a few minutes later Bittroff decided he wanted an early shower too and got his ass tossed as well.
Ingolstadt finally got going as they beat down Bielefeld in an exciting match where they were always behind. Arminia was unable to hold off the Schanzer, despite kicking them in the balls several times. Bielefeld had chances to win, but they showed they need steel to bring home points like this.
Derby in Sandhausen village, as SVS faced famous Karlsruhe. KSC was close to getting a win, but Sandhausen put in a good effort, and were rewarded with a late equalizer that got them a fair result.
On Monday it was St.Pauli straightening their ship a bit, while Dresden fell deeper into the hole. The Paulistas were dominant, but looked to be dropping points late in the match. Then 19 year old Sebastian Maier – you had just been subbed in – knocked in a direct freekick from 20 yards causing the Millerntor stadium to explode.
Total attendance: 124,087 (avg 13,787)
SV Sandhausen - Karlsruher SC 1:1 (0:0) 10,600
0:1 Nazarov (57., Yabo)
1:1 F. Hübner (88., Schauerte)
FC Ingolstadt 04 - Arminia Bielefeld 3:2 (1:1) 4,500
0:1 Klos (5., C. Müller)
1:1 P. Hofmann (31., Hajnal)
1:2 Riese (73., Klos)
2:2 Hajnal (76., Caiuby)
3:2 Eigler (79., Caiuby)
Erzgebirge Aue - Energie Cottbus 2:1 (0:1) 9,550
0:1 Banovic (22., penalty, Jendrisek)
1:1 Novikovas (47.)
2:1 Novikovas (77., direct freekick)
SpVgg Greuther Fürth - 1. FC Köln 0:0 (0:0) 13,770
VfR Aalen - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 4:0 (1:0) 8,000
1:0 Löwe (42., own goal, Lechleiter)
2:0 Valentini (48., Traut)
3:0 Buballa (71., A. Hofmann)
4:0 Valentini (88., Weiß)
Fortuna Düsseldorf - VfL Bochum 1:0 (1:0) 37,233
1:0 Reisinger (8., Kenia)
FSV Frankfurt - 1. FC Union Berlin 1:1 (1:0) 4,436
1:0 Leckie (41., Huber)
1:1 Kreilach (57., Mattuschka)
SC Paderborn 07 - 1860 München 1:0 (0:0) 7,411
1:0 Wemmer (71., Vrancic)
Monday:
FC St. Pauli - Dynamo Dresden 2:1 (0:0) 28,587
0:1 Aoudia (71., Fiel)
1:1 Kringe (73., Buchtmann)
2:1 Maier (88., direct freekick)
1 SpVgg Greuther Fürth (A) 5 4 1 0 8:2 +6 13
2 Erzgebirge Aue 5 3 0 2 6:5 +1 9
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3 1860 München 5 3 0 2 5:4 +1 9
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4 1. FC Kaiserslautern 5 3 0 2 7:8 -1 9
5 1. FC Union Berlin 5 2 2 1 8:6 +2 8
6 Karlsruher SC (N) 5 2 2 1 5:3 +2 8
7 FC St. Pauli 5 2 2 1 5:4 +1 8
8 Energie Cottbus 5 2 1 2 12:6 +6 7
9 FSV Frankfurt 5 2 1 2 6:4 +2 7
10 1. FC Köln 5 1 4 0 5:3 +2 7
11 Fortuna Düsseldorf (A) 5 2 1 2 5:5 0 7
12 VfR Aalen 5 2 1 2 6:7 -1 7
13 VfL Bochum 5 1 2 2 5:6 -1 5
14 Arminia Bielefeld (N) 5 1 2 2 7:9 -2 5
15 SC Paderborn 07 5 1 2 2 5:9 -4 5
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16 SV Sandhausen 5 0 3 2 3:6 -3 3
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17 FC Ingolstadt 04 5 1 0 4 5:10 -5 3
18 Dynamo Dresden 5 0 2 3 4:10 -6 2
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