On the last matchday of the 2nd Bundesliga, Holstein Kiel had a hand on the championship trophy for a long time, but then FC St. Pauli pulled out. 1. FC Kaiserslautern is warming up for the cup final, Hertha and Schalke lose. In Rostock the mood escalates and there is a threat that the game will be abandoned.
FC Hansa Rostock – SC Paderborn 1:2 (0:0)
From Hansa Rostock’s point of view, the game was interrupted in stoppage time in the second half when the score was 1:2. The trigger is a massive use of fireworks, smoke bombs and the like in the spectator stands.
SV Wehen Wiesbaden – FC St. Pauli 1:2 (1:0)
A week after promotion, FC St. Pauli crowned its season and also secured the second division championship. Coach Fabian Hürzeler’s team claimed first place on the last matchday with a 2-1 (1-0) win at SV Wehen Wiesbaden in a long-distance duel with fellow promoted team Holstein Kiel. Franko Kovacevic (10th) initially scored for the Hessians, but Andreas Albers (51st) and Danel Sinani (82nd) scored for St. Pauli to win.
Hürzeler made two changes after last weekend’s win against VfL Osnabrück (3-1), which helped St. Pauli secure promotion after 13 years of absence. There was initially little sign of a hangover for the Hamburg team after the big break, but Wiesbaden’s Kovacevic scored the first goal with a header from the crowd after a corner.
Against the deep-lying hosts, St. Pauli missed their best opportunities through Lars Ritzka (14th) and Connor Metcalfe (37th) before the break, but after the break Hamburg increased the number of hits. Substitute Albers scored from a tight angle to equalize.
Afterwards, emotions ran high: Wiesbaden’s coach Nils Döring vehemently called for a penalty after a duel between his attacker Ivan Prtajin and Karol Mets, referee Deniz Aytekin then showed him red. Sinani scored for St. Pauli, and the Wiesbaden team, who were in danger of relegation, kept looking at him Competitors to Rostock, where the game was interrupted late.
Hannover 96 – Holstein Kiel 1:2 (0:2)
Holstein Kiel missed the championship at the end of the season and is promoted to the first league in second place. Coach Marcel Rapp’s team won 2-1 (2-0) at Hannover 96 but still had to bury their hopes of winning the bowl known as the “rim”. This was secured by co-promoter FC St. Pauli, who won 2-1 (0-1) at SV Wehen Wiesbaden. Lewis Holtby (26th) and Tim Rothe (32nd) put Kiel on the leash to success, Louis Schaub (78th) scored 96.
The opening phase in Hanover clearly belonged to the hosts. Nicolo Tresoldi (2nd) tested Holstein’s regular substitute goalkeeper Marcel Engelhardt before Rothe cleared Tresoldi’s header off the line at the following corner. On the other hand, Holstein turned up the heat as the game progressed. After a few missed chances, Holtby headed in a Rothe cross before the winger himself tunneled past Hannover keeper Ron-Robert Zieler for the second goal. After the break there was little from Holstein, Hannover got better and better, created good opportunities and shortened the gap with Schaub’s header.
The previous week, Holstein secured the first Bundesliga promotion for a club from Schleswig-Holstein with a 1-1 draw against Fortuna Düsseldorf. The big party is coming up in Kiel on Monday. The team will drive through the city in a bus parade and ultimately celebrate together with thousands of fans on the town hall market after the entry in the city’s golden book.
1. FC Kaiserslautern – Eintracht Braunschweig 5:0 (1:0)
Thanks to triple goalscorer Marlon Ritter, 1. FC Kaiserslautern put on an impressive dress rehearsal for next week’s DFB Cup final. Before the big duel with German champions Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday (8 p.m./ARD, Sky and in the live ticker at ntv.de) In Berlin, the Palatinate team won their last tough test in the 2nd Bundesliga with 5-0 (1-0) against Eintracht Braunschweig.
Ritter (36th/48th/69th), Daniel Hanslik (54th) and Aaron Opoku (77th) scored on the Betzenberg for the team of coach Friedhelm Funkel, who took over the FCK in February as a fireman in the relegation battle and came second to last Matchday had led to relegation. The cup final, in which Kaiserslautern enters as a blatant outsider, will be Funkel’s last game as coach of the Red Devils.
In the duel between the two clubs, who had already saved themselves last weekend, the FCK had to take a breather with two big opportunities for Braunschweig. In an even phase, Ritter then took the lead from close range, having initiated the attack himself. After the break, the offensive player increased the score with a dream goal in the corner and Hanslik after a counterattack. Almamy Toure was shown a red card after an attack (57′), but Ritter still scored his third goal.
VfL Osnabrück – Hertha BSC 2:1 (1:1)
Hertha BSC lost the last game under Pal Dardai as coach. The Berliners had to admit defeat to relegated VfL Osnabrück with 1:2 (1:1). In front of 15,741 spectators in the sold-out stadium at the Bremer Brücke, Palko Dardai (5th minute) gave Hertha the lead early on. Niklas Wiemann (44th) scored shortly before half-time to equalize the hosts. In an uneventful game, Kwasi Okyere Wriedt (76′) scored VfL’s winning goal. As a result of the defeat, Hertha ended the season in ninth place in the second division. Osnabrück was already at the bottom.
The Osnabrück east curve cheered without a roof.
(Photo: dpa)
In the coming season, a new coach will lead Hertha back into the Bundesliga. Club icon Pal Dardai is said to be working in a different role at the club. It was already the third term as head coach for Berlin’s record player. Changes are also expected in the player personnel. Top scorer Haris Tabakovic (22 goals) and crowd favorite Fabian Reese should be retained if possible. Osnabrück has to make a fresh start in the 3rd league.
Hamburger SV – 1. FC Nuremberg 3:1 (3:1)
Hamburger SV has at least ended another disappointing season in a somewhat forgiving manner. Coach Steffen Baumgart’s team, which also missed promotion at the sixth attempt, won 4-1 (3-1) against 1. FC Nürnberg on the last matchday.
Robert Glatzel scored his 20th, 21st and 22nd goals of the season for the Hanseatic League (6th/28th/90th+5, penalty kick), the striker drew level with Haris Tabakovic (Hertha BSC) and Christos Tzolis (Fortuna Düsseldorf) after goals. Lukas Schmelzer (16th) had equalized for the club in the meantime, but Lukasz Poreba (22nd) quickly put HSV back in the lead.
Hamburg ended the season in fourth place for the fourth time since relegation; in the other two seasons in the lower house they had failed in relegation. A hardly satisfactory season is also over for Nuremberg.
SpVgg Greuther Fürth – FC Schalke 04 2:0 (0:0)
Schalke 04 missed a conciliatory end to the season. In the duel between their table neighbors at SpVgg Greuther Fürth, the Royal Blues had to admit defeat 0-2 (0-0). Captain Branimir Hrgota (67th) and Tim Lemperle (82nd) scored the Fürth goals. The game was meaningless in terms of sport after Schalke had secured relegation. The Bundesliga relegated team from Gelsenkirchen was in danger of being pushed through to the 3rd league for a long time. The home team had the better chance of taking the lead in the first half. After the break, Fürth continued to have more possession of the ball, and Hrgota converted that into a deserved lead. Lemperle ensured the final point.
Fortuna Düsseldorf – 1. FC Magdeburg 3:2 (2:1)
Thanks to hat-trick Christos Tzolis, Fortuna Düsseldorf goes into the promotion relegation with a sense of success. The second division third placed a successful dress rehearsal for the showdown against VfL Bochum on Thursday and May 27th with a 3:2 (2:1) against 1. FC Magdeburg in a league finish that was meaningless in terms of sport (both 8.30 p.m./Sky, Sat.1 and in the live ticker at ntv.de) there.
Striker Tzolis (6th/20th/88th) was once again the guarantee of victory and, with 22 goals, drew level with Haris Tabakovic (Hertha BSC) and Robert Glatzel (Hamburger SV) as the league’s top scorers. The Düsseldorf team, unbeaten in 14 league games, set their record from the 2017/2018 second division championship with 63 points. Bryan Teixeira (31st) and Connor Krempicki (47th) had equalized in the meantime.
Düsseldorf coach Daniel Thioune rotated vigorously. With his goals 20 and 21 this season, Tzolis got off to a perfect start. But then the hosts showed themselves to be vulnerable defensively, and Magdeburg took advantage of this. But after a corner, Tzolis made the decision from close range.
Now Fortuna’s full focus is on relegation. “With Bochum we are facing an opponent who has team unity, but at the same time also has a high level of individual quality,” said Fortuna’s sports director Christian Weber: “Two very intense games await us.”
SV Elversberg – Karlsruher SC 0:3 (0:0)
Ex-national player Lars Stindl ended his career as a professional footballer with a goal. The 35-year-old came on as a substitute in the 79th minute of Karlsruher SC’s 3-0 (0-0) win at SV Elversberg and headed the final score just a few seconds later. Previously, Budu Siwziwadze (52nd) and Philip Heise (56th) scored for Baden in front of 9,502 spectators. The KSC ended the season in fifth place – its best placement in nine years. The Elversberg team finished their debut season in the second division in eleventh place.
Paul Wanner could have given the hosts the lead, but only hit the post. On the other side, Sivzivadze was first denied by goalkeeper Tim Boss (32′), then Igor Matanovic got lost (42′). The double strike shortly after the break decided the game. Boss didn’t look good when Siwsiwadze scored, and Heise’s shot was then deflected unstoppably. Stindl, who returned to his homeland from Borussia Mönchengladbach last summer, provided the perfect ending from KSC’s perspective.