Seven-goal smash in Paderborn
Referees have to interrupt second division games
February 4, 2024, 3:30 p.m
Fan protests also characterize Sunday games in the 2nd Bundesliga. In Hanover the teams are ordered into the dressing room, and there is also a compulsory break in Elversberg. In Paderborn, the East Westphalians have a wild exchange of blows with Fortuna Düsseldorf.
SC Paderborn – Fortuna Dusseldorf 4:3 (3:0)
The cup heroes from Fortuna Düsseldorf continue to lag behind in the promotion race of the 2nd Bundesliga. Four days after reaching the semi-finals in the penalty thriller at FC St. Pauli, the Rhinelanders lost 3:4 (0:3) to SC Paderborn despite catching up. After just one win from five games, the hope of returning to the upper house is dwindling more and more.
David Kinsombi (19th), Mattes Hansen (34th), Filip Bilbija (37th) and Koen Kostons (82nd) scored the goals for the Paderborn team, who played their 500th second division game. Yannik Engelhardt (49th), winter signing Marlon Mustapha (55th) and Dennis Jastrzembski (90th) shortened in the meantime. The East Westphalia team drew level on points with Fortuna, who failed to reduce the gap in third place to two points.
Fortuna’s hopes of promotion are dwindling.
(Photo: dpa)
The Düsseldorf team started with a wait-and-see approach, initially leaving the initiative to the hosts. Paderborn consequently took the lead: Raphael Obermair moved away on the right wing and set up for Kinsombi, who was completely free to shoot. It was East Westphalia’s first goal this year. It was only after half an hour that Fortuna came dangerously in front of the Paderborn goal for the first time with a header from Ao Tanaka (31′). But the visitors’ defense was shaky: At first Hansen was a bit lucky that the ball bounced at his feet. Then Bilbija capitalized on strong preparatory work from Kostons.
After the break, Fortuna appeared as if they had been changed – and suddenly the game was open again. However, Paderborn recovered and benefited from a mistake by Düsseldorf keeper Florian Kastenmeier to make it 4-2. But even then the game was not yet decided.
Hannover 96 – Hansa Rostock 2:1 (1:1)
Accompanied by massive fan protests again against the entry of investors into German professional football, Hannover 96 has fueled its hopes of promotion. Coach Stefan Leitl’s team won their home game against relegation candidate Hansa Rostock 2-1 (1-1) and moved within five points of the relegation place. The game had to be interrupted for a total of around 20 minutes after tennis balls continued to fly from the stands onto the field.
Marcel Halstenberg (78th), who was shown a red card shortly before the final whistle for kicking, ensured the second win in a row. An own goal from Kevin Schumacher (4th) put the favorites in the lead before Kai Pröger (45th + 5th) equalized. After the success against Elversberg last week, Rostock is still in the relegation zone.
In Hanover, they diligently collected what the fans brought onto the field.
(Photo: dpa)
In terms of sport, Hannover got off to a dream start, Schumacher deflected the first corner of the game from birthday boy Derrick Köhn into his own goal. After that, there was hardly any flow of play because of the protests. Hannover handled the strange situation a little better and created more chances. Pröger’s equalizer after a fatal bad pass from Ron-Robert Zieler came out of nowhere. In total, the first half lasted a good 65 minutes.
In the second half, an intense battle of attrition developed in the midfield, Andreas Voglsammer initially failed with the best chance ahead of Markus Kolke (70th). Then Halstenberg pushed another corner from Köhn over the line at the second post. In the final phase Zieler had to save a few more times.
SV Elversberg – 1. FC Kaiserslautern 2:1 (1:1)
Four days after reaching the DFB Cup semi-finals, 1. FC Kaiserslautern landed hard on the ground. Coach Dimitrios Grammozis’ team lost 1:2 (1:1) to newly promoted SV Elversberg and is still deep in the relegation battle with 21 points from 20 games. The Saarlanders, on the other hand, climbed into the top half of the table with 28 points.
Bayern loan player Paul Wanner (19th) gave the league newcomers the lead, Ragnar Ache (45th + 6) equalized in a remarkable way. After the break, Thore Jacobsen (56th) marked the final score with a hand penalty and ensured Elversberg’s first league win since the end of November. Province instead of the capital, small stands instead of a sold-out Olympic Stadium: A contrasting program to the hot cup night at Hertha BSC awaited the Red Devils. Despite an English week, the FCK appeared more active at the beginning, but then fell behind.
Because the visiting fans threw lemons onto the pitch in protest against the German Football League (DFL), referee Deniz Aytekin interrupted the match for four minutes after just under half an hour. Until the break, the game was similar: Kaiserslautern had more shares, Elversberg was waiting for counterattacks. The hosts had the better end of an open second half.