One thing about the Zweite Liga: it’s a fierce competition, and this week was no exception, as everyone was scrambling to improve their position going into winterbreak.
The big winner was leaders Köln, as they maintained their position at the top with a tough win in the Rheinderby at Düsseldorf. The visitors put in a strong performance, and seemed to have everything under control. But Fortuna threw everything forward in the 2nd half and managed to square the match. The chase seemed to have emptied their tanks however, and Köln pounced ruthlessly to grab a deserved win.
Köln’s win meant that the chasing teams needed wins as well, and despite struggles they managed to come through, with one notable exception. St.Pauli was beginning to smell the Bundesliga once again, but were given a cold shower by Karlsruhe. KSC is one of the surprises, and with this impressive away win, turn themselves into contenders as well. Also getting tough wins were Greuther Fürth and Kaiserslautern, and Union Berlin is back in form to create a four-way tie for the 3rd spot.
Aalen gave their coach a nice Xmas present: they fired his ass. Seems a bit extreme in the ho-ho-ho department, as Aalen is really a small squad without talent, but had been punching above their weight.
FC St. Pauli - Karlsruher SC 0:2 (0:0) 29,063 *
0:1 Micanski (63., Hennings)
0:2 Torres (84., Micanski)
SV Sandhausen - Erzgebirge Aue 1:0 (1:0) 3,310
1:0 Ulm (31., penalty, Adler)
Dynamo Dresden - VfL Bochum 0:0 (0:0) 27,872
FSV Frankfurt - 1860 München 2:2 (1:1) 5,814
1:0 Leckie (21., Kapllani)
1:1 Stoppelkamp (38., Hand penalty)
2:1 Yelen (70., direct freekick)
2:2 Stoppelkamp (90., Hertner)
1. FC Union Berlin - Arminia Bielefeld 4:2 (3:1) 20,314
0:1 Klos (1., Schönfeld)
1:1 Eggimann (18., Mattuschka)
2:1 Kohlmann (26., Nemec)
3:1 Nemec (42., Mattuschka)
4:1 Mattuschka (49., penalty, Kohlmann)
4:2 Jerat (51., penalty, Klos)
SpVgg Greuther Fürth - VfR Aalen 1:0 (0:0) 10,170
1:0 Füllkrug (60.)
SC Paderborn 07 - Energie Cottbus 1:0 (0:0) 8,578
1:0 Hünemeier (63., Vrancic)
Fortuna Düsseldorf - 1. FC Köln 2:3 (0:2) 52,500 *
0:1 Ujah (29., Helmes)
0:2 Helmes (38.)
1:2 Hoffer (55., Gartner)
2:2 Benschop (62., direct freekick)
2:3 Ujah (75., D. Halfar)
Monday:
FC Ingolstadt 04 - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 1:2 (1:1) 10,354
1:0 Mo. Hartmann (18., Caiuby)
1:1 Zoller (32., Torrejon)
1:2 Zoller (65., Idrissou)
1 1. FC Köln 19 11 6 2 32:10 +22 39
2 SpVgg Greuther Fürth (A) 19 11 2 6 35:22 +13 35
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3 1. FC Kaiserslautern 19 9 4 6 32:20 +12 31
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4 Karlsruher SC (N) 19 8 7 4 26:17 +9 31
5 1. FC Union Berlin 19 9 4 6 31:26 +5 31
6 FC St. Pauli 19 9 4 6 26:23 +3 31
7 SC Paderborn 07 19 8 5 6 32:32 0 29
8 1860 München 19 8 4 7 18:21 -3 28
9 SV Sandhausen 19 7 6 6 17:17 0 27
10 Fortuna Düsseldorf (A) 19 7 4 8 21:29 -8 25
11 VfL Bochum 19 6 5 8 18:20 -2 23
12 VfR Aalen 19 6 5 8 18:21 -3 23
13 FSV Frankfurt 19 5 6 8 27:29 -2 21
14 FC Ingolstadt 04 18 6 3 9 17:24 -7 21
15 Arminia Bielefeld (N) 19 6 3 10 27:36 -9 21
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16 Erzgebirge Aue 19 6 3 10 21:30 -9 21
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17 Dynamo Dresden 19 4 9 6 20:29 -9 21
18 Energie Cottbus 19 3 4 12 21:32 -11 13
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