Round 32, May 8-10
The relegation battle is red-hot, and the troubled sides had a major uprising: all underdogs on the road, they all had impressive wins. But even at the top, things are really exciting.
Aalen had an easy time at Düsseldorf, as Fortuna was completely flat an seemingly uninterested. This allowed the bottom side to control the match and bring home an important victory. Aalen certainly wishes they had a taken Accounting 101 at university, but they would still be last even without the point deduction. Nevertheless, this huge win gives them a realistic chance of surviving.
1860 also got a huge victory at Frankfurt. FSV was the dominant side, but couldn’t break through against teh desperate Lions. Then a beautiful pass from Adlung led to a late 1860 goal and hope for salvation. For the Bornheimers on the other hand, they’ve been dragged back into the relegation mire – they need some points to be sure of surviving. 1860 was looking pretty weak, but this win was huge.
Aue was impressive in winning at Union Berlin. Erzgebirge started well and eventually powered to a lead, but Union fought back and controlled the match down the stretch. The visitors held on for a crucial win.
St.Pauli got a huge away win at Kaiserslautern. The hosts generally dominated the match, but the Hamburgers patiently defended and waited for their chances. FCK wasted too many chances, and their promotion battle just got a lot tougher.
So basically the bottom four sides all had massive results on the road no less.
It really didn’t mean much in the tables, as neither side is going anywhere. But there was some interest in the Leipzig-Sandhausen clash. The RedBalls have the most money, Sandhausen are one of the poorer sides, and Leipzig got their ass ripped, at home no less. Aziz Bouhaddoud hit a hat-trick as the villagers romped home.
Also of interest is that Thierry Henry was in the audience. Not sure what the hell he was in Leipzig for on a Friday night, perhaps the Rasenbullsportler bribed him to show up.
Braunschweig has probably dropped out of promotion hopes. The Lions were outplayed by Nürnberg, who had a crappy season, but looked more like a team hoping for a return to the Bundesliga. For Braunschweig, they’re pretty much done pending the KSC-Darmstadt result. The fact is that they simply lose too many matches, twice as much as the top competition.
Ingolstadt looked ready to celebrate their promotion, as the were in control and dominant at Bochum. However they’ll have to postpone the celebrations. (Of course, maybe they intend to celebrate at home). First the hosts were awarded a dubious penalty just before half. Then in the 2nd period, Bochum showed “what could have been” (not unlike Nürnberg) and proceeded to press the Schanzers back to the wall. They eventually broke through for a solid victory.
Greuther Fürth apparently missed the message that there is a desperate relegation battle going on…and they’re participating. They sucked at Heidenheim, and were down at half, and then compounded the mess by giving up a penalty and red-card right after the restart. Right now, a single goal is keeping them up, so they’ll desperately need improvement next match.
Monday was the huge battle of Karlsruhe hosting Darmstadt. Winner leaps over Kaiserslautern into 2nd. It was a hard fought match, but a clever counter-attack led to Darmstadt grabbing the victory and a huge advantage in the promotion sprint. They don’t have an easy run-in though, as they will face two desperate sides. First at Greuther Fürth, and then home to St.Pauli. Both their opponents may need full points to stay up, so it will be tough. Lautern has an easier time, tough match in Aue, but the finale at home against an Ingolstadt side that is probably already promoted. KSC is at Braunschweig, whose season is over, and then home to 1860, who will need points. KSC has to win both to have a chance.
Total attendance 197,082 (avg 21,898), 65.1% capacity, sellout in Karlsruhe
Fortuna Düsseldorf - VfR Aalen 0:2 (0:1) 23,366
0:1 Ademi (27., Steinhöfer)
0:2 J. Gjasula (70., penalty, Drexler)
FSV Frankfurt - 1860 München 0:1 (0:0) 6,679
0:1 Rama (84., Adlung)
RasenBall Leipzig - SV Sandhausen 0:4 (0:1) 18,904
0:1 Thiede (36.)
0:2 Bouhaddouz (54., Thiede)
0:3 Bouhaddouz (59., Achenbach)
0:4 Bouhaddouz (74., Wooten)
1. FC Kaiserslautern - FC St. Pauli 0:2 (0:0) 45,035
0:1 Kalla (47.)
0:2 Halstenberg (55., penalty, Buchtmann)
1. FC Union Berlin - Erzgebirge Aue 1:2 (0:1) 21,035
0:1 Mugosa (23., Wood)
0:2 Fandrich (62., Benatelli)
1:2 Kobylanski (64.)
1. FC Nürnberg - Eintr. Braunschweig 3:1 (1:0) 27,985
1:0 Reichel (32., own goal, Pinola)
2:0 D. Blum (52.)
3:0 G. Burgstaller (67., Schöpf)
3:1 Berggreen (68., Zuck)
VfL Bochum - FC Ingolstadt 04 3:1 (1:1) 12,611
0:1 Hinterseer (32., Leckie)
1:1 Gregoritsch (45. + 1, penalty, Cwielong)
2:1 Forssell (72., Celozzi)
3:1 Tasaka (83., Losilla)
1. FC Heidenheim - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 3:0 (2:0) 14,000
1:0 Göhlert (25.)
2:0 Heise (42., Schnatterer)
3:0 Schnatterer (49., penalty, Leipertz)
Karlsruher SC - SV Darmstadt 98 0:1 (0:0) 27,467 *
0:1 Kempe (66., Heller)
1 FC Ingolstadt 04 32 16 12 4 50:30 +20 60
2 SV Darmstadt 98 (N) 32 14 14 4 43:25 +18 56
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3 1. FC Kaiserslautern 32 14 12 6 44:30 +14 54
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4 Karlsruher SC 32 13 13 6 42:26 +16 52
5 Eintracht Braunschweig (A) 32 15 5 12 44:37 +7 50
6 RasenBallsport Leipzig (N) 32 12 11 9 36:29 +7 47
7 1. FC Heidenheim (N) 32 11 9 12 43:40 +3 42
8 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 32 12 6 14 39:44 -5 42
9 VfL Bochum 32 9 14 9 52:50 +2 41
10 SV Sandhausen 32 10 11 11 32:35 -3 41
11 Fortuna Düsseldorf 32 10 11 11 44:49 -5 41
12 1. FC Union Berlin 32 10 11 11 41:50 -9 41
13 FSV Frankfurt 32 9 9 14 37:48 -11 36
14 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 32 7 13 12 35:49 -14 34
15 FC St. Pauli 32 9 7 16 35:49 -14 34
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16 Erzgebirge Aue 32 9 7 16 30:45 -15 34
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17 1860 München 32 8 9 15 39:48 -9 33
18 VfR Aalen 32 7 12 13 31:40 -9 31
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