The top seems now decided, and one spot in relegation is still “down-for-grabs”…
RedBull money has made it’s mark as the RasenBallsportler have perhaps taken the decisive step to promotion. A large crowd showed up in Leipzig to watch the critical match against Darmstadt. The winner would likely get the auto-promotion spot. The home side actually looked the better team, controlling most of the match. However Darmstadt did make things interesting at the end, as they desperately searched for an equalizer. On the balance, Leipzig deserved the win, and although some may gripe about corporate sponsorship, the players played hard, and the local fans finally have something to cheer about.
Under somewhat quieter circumstances, leaders Heidenheim officially gained promotion with their point and Darmstadt’s loss. It wasn’t easy, as they faced a desperate Elversberg side that is struggling against relegation. SVE not only grabbed a lead, but Heidenheim was down a man at half when veteran Michael Thurk got his ass red carded. But the champions-to-be showed their mettle and managed to come back and salvage a point.
Hardly anyone was watching the match in Stuttgart, but VfB-II took a big step in staying up and dropped Unterhaching back into the zone.
The battle for 4th (and DFB-Cup qualifying) heated up as Duisburg had a somewhat fortunate win over Osnabrück. the Zebras have been strong at hoem recently, and despite some advantages, Osnabrück couldn’t gain anything. Looks like four teams are going down to the wire for this position. Wehen has claimed it for now, with a hard win over Chemnitz. But Duisburg and Kickers Stuttgart are lurking right behind and could seize the opportunity.
Burghausen needed a win, but they were crap against Rostock. That pretty much sends them down.
Kiel got outplayed at home, but managed to hold a draw with Regensburg. Usually the Storks are strong in the Holstein-Stadion, but it was their GK Niklas Jakusch who saved the day with a great performance. Kiel looks pretty safe, becuase their superior goal difference essentially gives them 5 points above relegation.
On Sunday, Münster entered the race for 4th place, and basically condemned Saarbrücken to the drop.
Total attendance 89,143 (avg 8,914), but of course most was in Leipzig. (Otherwise, the avg was around 5,555)
Rot Weiß Erfurt - Borussia Dortmund II 3:1 (0:0) 5,404 VfB Stuttgart II - SpVgg Unterhaching 3:2 (0:0) 935 MSV Duisburg - VfL Osnabrück 1:0 (0:0) 13,102 Hallescher FC - Stuttgarter Kickers 1:1 (0:1) 11,108 Wacker Burghausen - Hansa Rostock 0:1 (0:1) 2,300 RedBullsport Leipzig - SV Darmstadt 98 1:0 (1:0) 39,147 SV Wehen Wiesbaden - Chemnitzer FC 1:0 (1:0) 2,565 Holstein Kiel - Jahn Regensburg 0:0 (0:0) 5,339 SV Elversberg - 1. FC Heidenheim 1:1 (1:0) 1,886 Preußen Münster - 1. FC Saarbrücken 2:0 (0:0) 7,357 1 1. FC Heidenheim 35 22 10 3 57:23 +34 76 2 RasenBallsport Leipzig (N) 35 21 7 7 56:32 +24 70 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 SV Darmstadt 98 35 19 9 7 54:25 +29 66 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 35 14 10 11 38:41 -3 52 5 VfL Osnabrück 35 14 9 12 49:36 +13 51 6 MSV Duisburg (A) 35 13 12 10 41:37 +4 51 7 Stuttgarter Kickers 35 13 11 11 43:40 +3 50 8 Preußen Münster 35 12 13 10 51:46 +5 49 9 Hallescher FC 35 13 8 14 44:48 -4 47 10 Hansa Rostock 35 13 8 14 43:52 -9 47 11 Rot Weiß Erfurt 35 13 7 15 50:46 +4 46 12 Jahn Regensburg (A) 35 12 10 13 50:50 0 46 13 Chemnitzer FC 35 11 11 13 40:44 -4 44 14 Borussia Dortmund II 35 11 9 15 43:51 -8 42 15 Holstein Kiel (N) 35 9 14 12 38:35 +3 41 16 VfB Stuttgart II 35 11 8 16 43:53 -10 41 17 SV Elversberg (N) 35 10 8 17 31:50 -19 38 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 SpVgg Unterhaching 35 9 10 16 43:62 -19 37 19 1. FC Saarbrücken 35 8 7 20 36:56 -20 31 20 Wacker Burghausen 35 7 9 19 32:55 -23 30 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