Outsiders annoy Hertha and 96
Funkel receives a nasty blow on his home debut
February 24, 2024, 2:59 p.m
Legendary coach Friedhelm Funkel is supposed to save 1. FC Kaiserslautern from relegation from the 2nd Bundesliga, but the home debut on matchday 22 goes completely wrong. Hertha BSC and Hannover 96, on the other hand, surprisingly leave important points with two basement children.
1. FC Kaiserslautern – Karlsruher SC 0:4 (0:0)
1. FC Kaiserslautern is also staggering towards relegation in the 2nd Bundesliga under veteran coach Friedhelm Funkel. The former champions lost 4-0 (0-0) to Karlsruher SC in the second game under Funkel and could slip into a direct relegation zone on Sunday. At Funkel’s debut in Nuremberg it was at least enough to win a point.
Marvin Wanitzek (51st), Igor Matanovic (58th), Paul Nebel (81st) and Budu Siwziwadze (90th + 1) scored the goals for KSC, which is firmly in the middle of the table. For Karlsruhe it was the third away win of the season.
After a minute’s silence for the late former world champion Andreas Brehme, the encounter only slowly picked up speed. Funkel had prescribed a defensive basic order for the hosts. Karlsruhe dominated the game, but the guests didn’t have any great chances in the first half. Kaiserslautern also remained imprecise and harmless in the transition game.
After the change, the game picked up significantly. Just 25 seconds after the restart, Marlon Ritter missed the Red Devils’ lead, shortly afterwards Wanitzek made it better after a nice pass from Dzenis Burnic. Matanovic added his eighth goal of the season, fog made the final decision.
Eintracht Braunschweig – Hertha BSC 1:1 (1:0)
Hertha BSC failed to shorten the gap to the promotion ranks. After two wins in a row, coach Pal Dardai’s team only managed a 1-1 (0-1) draw at Eintracht Braunschweig and is stuck in the middle of the table. Fabio Kaufmann (14th) gave Eintracht the lead, but substitute Ibrahim Maza (52nd) managed to end Braunschweig’s home series with the equalizer. Coach Daniel Scherning’s team had previously won three home games in a row. Eintracht defender Hasan Kurucay was shown a red card for serious foul play (77′). The lead over direct relegation is currently two points.
The harmless Hertha players helped a lot with the Braunschweig goal. Andreas Bouchalakis played the ball into Kaufmann’s feet in his own penalty area, which hit the ball straight into the far corner. The goalscorer almost made it 2-0 from a tight angle (42′), but goalkeeper Tjark Ernst made the save.
After the break, the Berlin offensive showed great improvement. Crowd favorite Fabian Reese, who had extended his contract early on Thursday, served Maza before the equaliser. It was Reese’s twelfth assist this season. After that, Hertha – even when they had the majority – didn’t take advantage of their superiority.
VfL Osnabruck – Hannover 96 1:0 (0:0)
Hannover 96 has suffered a serious setback in the fight for the promotion places. Coach Stefan Leitl’s team lost 0-1 (0-0) to the bottom of the table, VfL Osnabrück, with a goal from Erik Engelhardt (61′) and thus missed the jump to third place. For Hannover it was the first defeat this year after four wins. Hamburger SV can increase its lead over Lower Saxony to four points when coach Steffen Baumgart makes his debut on Sunday.
Osnabrück held up well from the start against the guests, who had recently been in such strong form, and acted on an equal footing. Hannover only became a little more dangerous in the second half, but then had a collective defensive blackout and was then too harmless offensively.
The decisive goal for Osnabrück’s second win of the season came after a corner. After Dave Gnaase’s cross, goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler first parried against Maxwell Gyamfi, Robert Tesche then passed the ball on to Engelhardt, who only had to head it in from close range. Osnabrück ended its horror series of 15 games without a win.