Round 31, May 1-4
Some important “statements” were made in crucial matches at top and bottom. A couple of relegation threatened sides had huge wins against favored teams. A couple of others folded like wimps. One club hoping for promotion took a huge leap in a direct confrontation with a rival to stay alive.
Darmstadt needed a win against Kaiserslautern, whereas the visitors could almost book their Bundesliga ticket with a win. Indeed, the 98ers played like there was no tomorrow and overpowered FCK in the first half. The visitors had been running strong recently, but were simply outplayed by the hungrier team. They still have the edge, but the advantage has shrunk.
Erzgebirge Aue desperately needed something, and they faced Karlsruhe, who could jump into promotion with a win. The Auers outhustled the guests, and although they benefited from some terrible KSC defending, couldn’t get the second goal. Then KSC began to show their technical superiority in the 2nd half and equalized. Erzgebirge wildly threw everything forward, and were again rewarded by sloppy Karlsruhe defending. A huge win that gives them hope.
St.Pauli also made a statement that they want to survive. They faced the antithesis of everything the Paulista fans root for, corporate “Rasenball”. It was a fierce battle, and the Hamburgers came out on top, getting a massive win, pulling themselves out of the drop zone barely.
It was time for Greuther Fürth to “put up or shut up”. They’ve been sliding towards the drop, and desperately needed to apply the brakes. They answered critics with a thumping of Fortuna Düsseldorf. This broke their nine game winless streak and keeps their head barely above water. Fortuna is going nowhere, and they played like a club waiting for summer vacation.
Two threatened sides also made statements. Namely “We suck!”. 1860 was owned by Union Berlin. The Lions seemingly tried, but they were too incompetant, and Union easily got their first road win of 2015, and actually their first in 14 tries against 1860. München is in huge trouble and it is looking grim.
Aalen also got biatch-slapped. They have shown some spark, and you’d expect against a listless Bochum (whole season) they’d have a chance. Instead they got rolled like a joint and kicked in the balls. Both sides had players kicked out after only 18 minutes, but Bochum was the one that woke up and mercilessly dissected the hapless hosts. Aalen tried a late comeback, but that train had left the station..
Braunschweig looked like their last slim promotion chance was slipping away. FSV Frankfurt was fighting hard, and the Lions could get no advantage. But Danish Striker Emil Berggreen scored a double in the 2nd period that gives Eintracht some small hope, at least for the playoff spot. FSV has probably done enough work to stay safe from relegation.
An entertaining game in the “who cares?” match between Sandhausen and Heidenheim. Both clubs worked hard enough through the season to get the points to say up, and can presumably relax…
On Monday, Ingolstadt had a rare sellout as they strengthened their position at the top, splitting the points with Nürnberg.
Total attendance 128,641 (avg 14,293), 59.4% capacity, sellouts in Darmstadt, Hamburg, Ingolstadt
Eintr. Braunschweig - FSV Frankfurt 2:0 (0:0) 21,050
1:0 Berggreen (59., Decarli)
2:0 Berggreen (69., Boland)
SV Darmstadt 98 - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 3:2 (3:1) 16,150 *
0:1 Demirbay (13., direct freekick)
1:1 Bregerie (19., penalty, Heller)
2:1 König (22.)
3:1 Behrens (40.)
3:2 Stöger (88., direct freekick)
SpVgg Greuther Fürth - Fortuna Düsseldorf 3:0 (1:0) 11,845
1:0 Stiepermann (29., Lam)
2:0 Zulj (49., Schröck)
3:0 Sukalo (66., Stiepermann)
1860 München - 1. FC Union Berlin 0:3 (0:1) 18,800
0:1 Polter (19., Quiring)
0:2 Kreilach (80., Schönheim)
0:3 Polter (89., Nebihi)
FC St. Pauli - RasenBall Leipzig 1:0 (1:0) 23,584 *
1:0 Thy (45., Kalla)
VfR Aalen - VfL Bochum 2:4 (0:2) 8,566
0:1 O. Bulut (16., Perthel)
0:2 Terodde (32., Terrazzino)
0:3 Terrazzino (54., Gregoritsch)
0:4 Quaner (62., own goal, Celozzi)
1:4 Steinhöfer (66., penalty, Quaner)
2:4 Ademi (75., Ofosu-Ayeh)
SV Sandhausen - 1. FC Heidenheim 2:2 (0:0) 4,546
0:1 Niederlechner (54., Heise)
1:1 Bouhaddouz (71.)
1:2 Niederlechner (75., Heise)
2:2 Jovanovic (79., Kulovits)
Erzgebirge Aue - Karlsruher SC 3:1 (1:0) 9,100
1:0 Mugosa (19.)
1:1 Torres (71., Meffert)
2:1 Mugosa (75., Hertner)
3:1 Fandrich (85.)
FC Ingolstadt 04 - 1. FC Nürnberg 1:1 (0:0) 15,000 *
1 FC Ingolstadt 04 31 16 12 3 49:27 +22 60
2 1. FC Kaiserslautern 31 14 12 5 44:28 +16 54
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3 SV Darmstadt 98 (N) 31 13 14 4 42:25 +17 53
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4 Karlsruher SC 31 13 13 5 42:25 +17 52
5 Eintracht Braunschweig (A) 31 15 5 11 43:34 +9 50
6 RasenBallsport Leipzig (N) 31 12 11 8 36:25 +11 47
7 Fortuna Düsseldorf 31 10 11 10 44:47 -3 41
8 1. FC Union Berlin 31 10 11 10 40:48 -8 41
9 1. FC Heidenheim (N) 31 10 9 12 40:40 0 39
10 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 31 11 6 14 36:43 -7 39
11 VfL Bochum 31 8 14 9 49:49 0 38
12 SV Sandhausen 31 9 11 11 28:35 -7 38
13 FSV Frankfurt 31 9 9 13 37:47 -10 36
14 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 31 7 13 11 33:37 -4 34
15 FC St. Pauli 31 8 7 16 33:49 -16 31
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16 Erzgebirge Aue 31 8 7 16 28:44 -16 31
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17 1860 München 31 7 9 15 38:48 -10 30
18 VfR Aalen 31 6 12 13 29:40 -11 28
Aalen deducted two points for being wankers, err, financial shenanigans.
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
A = Absteiger just relegated
N = Neuling just promoted