St. Pauli are looking up at leaders Holstein Kiel and over their shoulders at Fortuna Düsseldorf after another dose of drama in the promotion race. - © IMAGO/Cathrin Mller /M.i.S.

2. Bundesliga

Bundesliga 2, Matchday 29: St. Pauli lose, Kiel move top, Hamburg snatch last-gasp point

16.04.2024

Hamburg's hope of securing promotion to the Bundesliga were dealt another blow as they drew 2-2 at Magdeburg, albeit with 10 men, while St. Pauli were edged out by Elversberg in a seven-goal thriller. Elsewhere, Schalke and Holstein Kiel were victorious, with the latter now in top spot.

Matchday 29 results

St. Pauli 3-4 Elversberg
Goals: 1-0 Eggestein 39’, 1-1 Neubauer 51’, 2-1 Hartel 69’, 2-2 Boyamba 70‘, 2-3 Wanner 81‘, 2-4 Vandermersch 3-4 Irvine 90’+2

St. Pauli failed to consolidate their place in their automatic promotion spots as they fell to a surprising 4-3 home defeat against Elversberg. Things started well enough for Die Kiezkicker as Johannes Eggestein pushed home from close range, but Maurice Neubauer restored parity shortly after the restart following a quick move. Although Marcel Hartel gave Pauli the lead for a second time, the advantage lasted 60 seconds as Joseph Boyamba equalized. In the final 10 minutes, Paul Wanner completed the comeback via the help of the post, before Huge Vandermersch adding the finishing touch to a quick counterattack. Jackson Irvine pounced on a poor Elversberg clearance to score in stoppage time, but it was too little, too late. Despite the defeat, Pauli are still five points above third, while Elversberg are comfortable in mid-table.

Holstein Kiel 4-0 Osnabrück
Goals: 1-0 Skrzybski (9'), 2-0 Sander (38'), 3-0 Becker (76'), 4-0 Bernhardsson (84')

Kiel remain on course for promotion after a table-topping victory over Osnabrück. Goals from Steven Skrzybski and Philipp Sander put the home team 2-0 up at the break before Timo Becker and Alexander Bernhardsson provided additional late gloss that wrapped up the points. It means Kiel maintain their six-point gap to third-placed Fortuna Düsseldorf and they are just three wins away from playing Bundesliga football next year.

Wehen Wiesbaden 0-2 Fortuna Düsseldorf
Goals: 0-1 Appelkamp (13'), 0-2 Jóhannesson (64')
Red card: Lee (35')

Fortuna Düsseldorf consolidated their place in the promotion play-off spot with victory over 10-man Wehen Wiesbaden. They wrapped up the points thanks to goals from Shinta Appelkamp and Ísak Bergmann Jóhannesson, either side of Hyunju Lee's first-half sending off for the hosts. Düsseldorf and new leaders Kiel play each other on Matchday 33, and Fortuna will be hoping they're still in the running by the time they travel to their rivals on the penultimate weekend of the season.

Magdeburg 2-2 Hamburg
Goals: 1-0 El Hankouri 26’ (pen.), 2-0 El Hankouri (45+7’), 2-1 Schonlau 68’, 2-2 Meffert 90'+4
Red cards: Ramos 24’

Hamburg’s hopes of promotion suffered another big setback as they drew 2-2 away at Magdeburg, although they came from 2-0 down with 10 men to do so. The visitors were dealt an early blow midway through the first half when Guilherme Ramos was dismissed for bringing down Luca Schuler just inside the penalty area as the last man. From the resulting spot-kick, Mohamed El Hankouri buried with aplomb, and he was gifted another opportunity from 12 yards deep into stoppage time before the interval when Matheo Raab clattered Leon Bell Bell. Once more, El Hankouri made no mistake. However, Sebastian Schonlau halved the deficit to give his team something to build on, and Jonas Meffert nodded in a last-gasp leveller. HSV are now three points adrift of Düsseldorf in the relegation play-off spot, and eight behind Pauli in second.

Schalke 2-0 Nuremberg
Goals: 1-0 Karaman (42'), 2-0 Seguin (86')

Schalke took their first win in four in front of a packed crowd of over 62,000 fans to ease their relegation worries. Schalke enjoyed the better of an open start and took the lead just before the break with Kenan Karaman slotting in on the turn. Both sides continued to get chances before Karaman missed a penalty ten minutes into the second half. With the game delicately poised entering into the final few minutes, the crossbar denied Jannes Horn an equaliser shortly before Paul Seguin sealed the precious points.

Hertha Berlin 4-0 Hansa Rostock
Goals: 1-0 Dárdai (18'), 2-0 Reese pen. (31'), 3-0 Dárdai (59'), 4-0 Tabaković (86')

Hertha maintained their outside run at promotion back to the Bundesliga with a convincing 4-0 victory over Hansa Rostock on Friday night. Palkó Dárdai headed the hosts in front after 18 minutes before Fabian Reese converted from the penalty spot to give the hosts a 2-0 lead at the break. Dárdai's second soon after the break made it 3-0 and Haris Tabaković then raced clear to rubber-stamp victory with four minutes remaining. The result puts Hertha on 44 points and within reach of third, while Rostock remain precariously placed in 15th.

Greuther Fürth 2-1 Kaiserslautern
Goals: 0-1 Ache (18'), 1-1 Wagner (53'), 2-1 Wagner (90'+5)

Greuther Fürth came from behind to beat second-bottom Kaiserslautern in dramatic fashion in the second of two Friday games, with the hosts saved by Robert Wagner's second-half brace that included a 95th-minute winner. Lautern took the lead early in the first half through Ragner Ache, putting them on course for a much-needed win that would have lifted them out of the bottom three. Wagner and Fürth had other ideas, though. Both of his strikes saw the 20-year-old make late runs into the box before finishing superbly, his second sending the Sportpark Ronhof crowd wild as the Clover Leaves kept alive their faint hopes of promotion for another week.

Paderborn 1-1 Karlsruhe
Goals: 1-0 Conteh (21'), 1-1 Matanović (26')

Paderborn and Karlsruhe played out a 1-1 draw on Saturday, a result that does neither team's chances of promotion too much good. Sirlord Conteh gave the hosts the lead after 20 minutes, one that lasted just five minutes before Igor Matanović equalised for the visitors. With five rounds of fixtures remaining, Paderborn sit ninth, while Karlsruhe close the weekend in seventh.

Eintracht Braunschweig 0-0 Hannover

Eintracht Braunschweig nudged themselves out of the bottom three with a goalless draw with Hannover on Sunday. The hosts picked up the point required to edge them above Hansa Rostock on goal-difference, a vital outcome with just five games remaining in the season. As for Hannover, they end the weekend seven points back from the top three, having missed the chance to close the gap further to Fortuna Düsseldorf.