Köln is marching to the Bundesliga, and they eventually overpowered a desperate Bielefeld side. The leaders dominated the 1st half and deserved their lead. Arminia came out in the 2nd half with all guns blazing and seemed close to equalizing. But Köln weathered the storm and finished off their relegation threatened visitors, and may have sealed both their fates. Köln’s success is largely due to their superb defense. Usually the promoted sides have much better attacks than the other clubs, but the leaders have basically been able to stop opponents from scoring – only 15 goals allowed in 29 matches!
Paderborn laid an egg as they lost at home against Düsseldorf. It was a hard fought match, as Fortuna is trying to get the points to secure their 2.Liga status. The homeside couldn’t control the match, and was mostly dangerous in dead ball situations. Düsseldorf kept on coming like a bad dream and eventually crapped all over Paderborn’s parade. This loss opened the door for others to hop back into the promotion race, while the win probably gives Fortuna the security for next season.
St.Pauli took advantage of Paderborn’s patzer, and got back in the promotion race. But it took a desperate comeback at in-form Sandhausen, where they were on the brink of defeat. A hard fought match and a furious endspurt gave the Paulistas a crucial away win.
Kaiserslautern missed their chance to get back into the promotion race. FCK had some possession advatange against struggling Bochum, but the guests actually had the better chances. Overall, a draw makes sense, and the Devils may rue this performance. For Bochum, with a little more ambition they could have all 3 points. As it is, they remain six points above the drop zone, almost safe.
1860’s coach Friedhelm Funkel announced his leaving at and of season, and based on today’s performances, he’s not missing much. Visiting Karlsruhe totally outplayed the toothless Lions, and Rouwen Hennings even got a hat-trick.
Aue ended any relegation worries with a win in the eastern derby with Berlin. The main talking point in this one was that all three penalties were somewhat dubious. Overall though, it was a pretty exciting game and Erxgebirge gets some kudos for getting the win.
A rare full house in Cottbus, for the ex-DDR derby against Dresden. Both sides desperately needed the win in the relegation battle, so it makes sense that neither side gets it. The relegation battle is almost over now.
Energie Cottbus - Dynamo Dresden 0:0 (0:0) 18,500 *
VfR Aalen - FSV Frankfurt 2:1 (1:0) 11,128
1:0 Lechleiter (33., Traut)
1:1 Roshi (61., Leckie)
2:1 Reichwein (85., Leandro)
SC Paderborn 07 - Fortuna Düsseldorf 1:2 (0:1) 14,788 *
0:1 Halloran (42., Liendl)
1:1 Meha (53., direct freekick)
1:2 Hoffer (76., Golley)
1. FC Köln - Arminia Bielefeld 2:0 (1:0) 48,900
1:0 D. Halfar (12.)
2:0 Ujah (75., Finne)
SV Sandhausen - FC St. Pauli 2:3 (0:0) 8,050
1:0 D. Blum (50., Linsmayer)
1:1 Gonther (55., Maier)
2:1 Adler (70.)
2:2 Schachten (76., Halstenberg)
2:3 Rzatkowski (79.)
1. FC Kaiserslautern - VfL Bochum 1:1 (1:1) 26,916
0:1 Sukuta-Pasu (43., Latza)
1:1 Idrissou (45., Matmour)
1860 München - Karlsruher SC 0:3 (0:2) 19,100
0:1 Hennings (19., penalty, Gordon)
0:2 Hennings (32., Klingmann)
0:3 Hennings (53., Park)
Erzgebirge Aue - 1. FC Union Berlin 3:2 (2:2) 12,000
0:1 Mattuschka (24., penalty, Puncec)
1:1 Sylvestr (30., penalty, Löning)
2:1 Nickenig (33., Benatelli)
2:2 Skrzybski (40., Mattuschka)
3:2 Sylvestr (72., penalty, S. Okoronkwo)
FC Ingolstadt 04 - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 0:0 (0:0) 7,236
1 1. FC Köln 29 16 10 3 43:15 +28 58
2 SpVgg Greuther Fürth (A) 29 14 8 7 51:33 +18 50
--------------------------------------------------------------------
3 SC Paderborn 07 29 14 7 8 53:44 +9 49
--------------------------------------------------------------------
4 FC St. Pauli 29 13 7 9 39:36 +3 46
5 Karlsruher SC (N) 29 11 11 7 40:27 +13 44
6 1. FC Kaiserslautern 29 12 8 9 42:30 +12 44
7 1. FC Union Berlin 29 11 9 9 43:37 +6 42
8 SV Sandhausen 29 11 8 10 26:26 0 41
9 1860 München 29 10 8 11 29:34 -5 38
10 VfR Aalen 29 9 10 10 28:34 -6 37
11 Erzgebirge Aue 29 10 7 12 37:44 -7 37
12 Fortuna Düsseldorf (A) 29 9 10 10 29:39 -10 37
13 FC Ingolstadt 04 29 9 9 11 28:30 -2 36
14 FSV Frankfurt 29 9 7 13 39:44 -5 34
15 VfL Bochum 29 9 7 13 25:33 -8 34
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16 Dynamo Dresden 29 4 16 9 28:40 -12 28
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17 Arminia Bielefeld (N) 29 7 6 16 32:53 -21 27
18 Energie Cottbus 29 6 6 17 32:45 -13 24
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