Hansa Rostock 0-1 Sandhausen
Goals: C. Kinsombi 45' (assist: D. Kinsombi)

The visitors came within touching distance of Hansa in the standings after the Kinsombi brothers, David and Christian, combined to score the game's only goal before the break. The opener came against the run of play, with David feeding Christian who prodded home from close range. The result lifted Sandhausen to provisional 13th place in the table and gives Alois Schwartz's men a little respite in the relegation battle.

Karlsruher 1-4 Holstein Kiel
Goals: 0-1 Breithaupt (o.g.) 16', 0-2 Wriedt 30' (assist: Skrzybski), 0-3 Reese 67', 1-3 Rapp 72', 1-4 Wriedt 90'+2 (assist: Arp)

Kiel gave their early promotion hopes a shot in the arm with a solid victory away to Karlsruher, Kwasi Okyere Wriedt weighing in with a double. The hosts - who have now lost four on the bounce - had a disastrous start when Tim Breithaupt's back pass evaded goalkeeper Marius Gersbeck and rolled over the line. Wriedt's shot on the spin helped to double Kiel's lead and Marcel Rapp's side were out of sight midway through the second half when Fabian Reese controlled a cross and fired home for 3-0. Simone Rapp reduced the arrears for the home side but Wriedt celebrated his double in injury time to send the visiting supporters home happy.

Fortuna Düsseldorf 1-0 St Pauli
Goals: 1-0 Hennings 22' (assist: Kownacki)
Red card: Fazliji 59'

Fortuna heaped more misery on ten-man Pauli as the hosts rose to fifth in the table thanks to this victory, secured by Rouwen Hennings's first-half strike. Dawid Kownacki's headed pass allowed Hennings to wrong foot Pauli keeper Nikola Vasilj for the game's only goal. When Betim Fazliji and Kownacki collided in the second half, the latter was ordered off, making the visitors' attempts at clawing their way back into the game that much harder. Fortuna would hold out for a third successive win that saw their opponents slip closer to the relegation zone.

Heidenheim 3-0 Paderborn
Goals: 1-0 Beste 35' (assist: Sessa), 2-0 Thomalla 76' (assist: Beck), 3-0 Beste 90'+1 (assist: Kühlwetter)

Heidenheim leapfrogged opponents Paderborn - who are now winless in three - into third place thanks to a man-of-the-match performance from double goalscorer Jan-Niklas Beste. The midfielder netted his first 10 minutes before the break, but the hosts had to wait until there was less than a quarter-of-an-hour remaining before Denis Thomalla made it 2-0 with the first shot of the second half. Beste drilled into the corner to complete the scoring and leave fourth-placed Paderborn goalless for only the second time this season.

Arminia Bielefeld 2-3 Kaiserslautern
Goals: 0-1 Klement 54' (assist: Redondo), 0-2 Opoku 57', 1-2 Hack (assist: Okugawa) 60', 2-2 Hack pen. 74' 2-3 Hanslik 88'
Red card: Lasme 45'

With Bielefeld relegated from the top-flight and Kaiserslautern promoted from the third division last term, these two are meeting in the middle this season; with Bielefeld still on a downward trajectory and Lautern climbing in the opposite direction. Since dropping down from the Bundesliga, Bielefeld have headed to the bottom of the second division - a positon reaffirmed as they were bested in a five-goal thriller that saw Lautern pick up a second win from their last three unbeaten outings (W2, D1). Bryan Lasme's sending off on the stroke of half time meant Bielefeld were up against it after the break and a two goal blitz from the visitors looked to have put the game to bed early in the second half. Robin Hack, however, struck twice to pull his team level but Kaiserslautern secured all three points thanks to Daniel Hanslik's late effort.

Hamburg 3-1 Jahn Regensburg
Goals: 0-1 Caliskaner (assist: Mees) 7', 1-1 Vuskovic (assist: Kittel) 12', 2-1 Königsdörffer (assist: Benes) 79', 3-1 Glatzel 90'

Visiting Regensburg made the perfect start as they made the trip to face a HSV outfit looking to keep pace with leaders Darmstadt. Kaan Caliskaner had them in front after just seven minutes, thanks to his third league goal of the campaign. The hosts hit back within five minutes through Mario Vuskovic, however, with the big centre half lashing home to pull his side level. Less than five minutes into the second period, HSV had the perfect chance to go in front but Robert Glatzel saw his penalty saved by Thorsten Kirschbaum. They did eventually get their second with 11 minutes to go - Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer firing home at the near post from Laszlo Benes' pass. Glatzel made up for his miss from 12-yards by adding a third in the final minute to ensure HSV remain just a point adrift of the leaders.

Watch: HSV 3-1 Jahn Regensburg - in 60 seconds!

SVD Darmstadt SV Darmstadt 98 - H96 Hannover Hannover 96

Matchday 15 round-up: Darmstadt stay top with Hannover win