Saturday April 24th 2021
Fortuna missed third place
Kiel storms out of quarantine with a furore
Holstein Kiel puts pressure on HSV and the leading trio: In the first game after the corona quarantine, the northern lights clear VfL Osnabrück before the break. Düsseldorf squinted into third place, but was shocked by the Paderborn double blow. Nuremberg gets rid of all relegation worries.
VfL Osnabrück – Holstein Kiel 1: 3 (0: 3)
Holstein Kiel has reported back with a sovereign away win after a forced break of almost three weeks and underlined its ambitions for promotion. The storks deservedly won 3-1 (3-0) at VfL Osnabrück and stayed within striking distance of the promotion ranks. For Osnabrück, however, the situation in the relegation battle after the 13th home bankruptcy in a row is becoming more and more threatening.
The Kielers did not show in the first half that they had just completed the second 14-day quarantine within six weeks. Janni Serra gave coach Ole Werner’s team an early lead (7th), an own goal by Osnabrück’s Bashkim Ajdini (23rd) finally brought the storks onto the road to victory. Fin Bartels made the 3-0 win before the break (45th). In the second half, VfL came up again and through Sebastian Kerk to 1: 3 (53rd). Marc Heider failed with his shot at Kiel keeper Thomas Dähne, who prevented the connection goal (75th).
The game in Osnabrück was the prelude to a mammoth schedule for Holstein Kiel: The Kielers still have to play a total of eight games by May 23 – including the cup semi-finals at Borussia Dortmund (May 1).
SC Paderborn – Fortuna Düsseldorf 2: 1 (0: 0)
Fortuna Düsseldorf suffered a painful setback in the promotion race. The team of coach Uwe Rösler lost on matchday 31 despite leading 1: 2 (0: 0) at SC Paderborn and missed the jump to third place. Due to the defeat, Fortuna even fell back to fifth place and has one point more than Hamburger SV on the relegation place. Paderborn, on the other hand, is still in the middle of the table.
After being led by Rouwen Hennings (64th), Fortuna was temporarily third in the Blitz table – but then Kai Pröger (71st) and Dennis Srbeny (73rd) caused the turnaround. In a playfully good first half, Paderborn initially set the tone and had the first good chance with Christopher Antwi-Adjei’s shot from the post (13th). The guests from Düsseldorf initially relied more on the counterattack, but sniffed the opening goal shortly before the break through Dawid Kownacki’s crossbar hit (43rd). After the break, the fortunes increased and initially took the lead: After a lot of preparatory work, the substitute Hennings pushed in to the previously deserved lead. However, Pröger and Srbeny (73rd) turned the game around with their hits in a very short time.
1. FC Nuremberg – 1. FC Heidenheim 3: 1 (2: 1)
1. FC Heidenheim also failed in the promotion race. The team of coach Frank Schmidt lost 1: 3 (1: 2) at 1. FC Nürnberg and missed the connection to the top 3. Since the competition from Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Kiel still have to play catch-up games, the promotion is moving forward FCH far away with three game days before the end.
The Franconians, on the other hand, finally got rid of their relegation concerns with 39 points. With the home win, coach Robert Klauss’s team has been unbeaten for six games. Johannes Geis (2nd), Fabian Nürnberger (26th) and youngster Tom Krauss (54th) scored for the club, Tim Kleindienst scored the interim equalizer with a penalty kick (19th). Nürnberg got off to a lightning start: Geis made goalkeeper Kevin Müller look bad with a direct free kick from an acute angle near the left corner flag. In an intensive initial phase, however, the guests were the better team. After a foul by Tim Handwerker on Christian Kühlwetter, Kleindienst converted the penalty. It was his tenth goal in his twelfth game of the season.
But the Franks struck back before the break through Nürnberger. After the change, Krauss made the preliminary decision following a combination that was well worth seeing. Heidenheim then lacked ideas in the offensive game. Nuremberg’s Nikola Dovedan (85th) hit the crossbar with a free kick, Heidenheim’s Stefan Schimmer saw yellow-red (90th + 4).
.