Bundesliga 2, Matchday 23 highlights: Hamburg beat Kaiserslautern to move top as Fortuna Düsseldorf hold Cologne

25.02.2025

Hamburg won a promotion six-pointer against fellow high-fliers Kaiserslautern on Matchday 23 to move top as Cologne drew with Fortuna Düsseldorf to miss out on a return to the Bundesliga 2's summit.

Matchday 23 results

Hamburg 3-0 Kaiserslautern
Goals: 1-0 Selke (42'), 2-0 Selke (65'), 3-0 Baldé (78')

Davie Selke struck twice, scoring his 15th and 16th Bundesliga 2 goals of the season, as HSV stormed past fellow promotion candidates Kaiserslautern on Friday, putting three points between the sides. The forward put the home side ahead just before half-time, brilliantly chesting the ball down and poking it over the line. The 30-year-old doubled Hamburg's lead after the interval with a fine finish after darting into the box before Fabio Baldé put the seal on the win with an unstoppable drive into the top corner from wide on the right.

Cologne 1-1 Fortuna Düsseldorf
Goals: 1-0 Kainz 67', 1-1 Jóhannesson pen. 90'

Despite a dominant derby performance in front of a home crowd, Cologne were unable to return to the top of the Bundesliga. Having had plenty of the ball without being able to slice through the Düsseldorf defence, Cologne finally found the breakthrough when Linton Maina cut back for Florian Kainz to finish with just over 20 minutes to go. It looked as if the hosts were on their way to securing a narrow victory until Joël Schmied handled in the area, allowing Ísak Bergmann Jóhannesson to equalise from the spot at the death.

Hannover 1-1 Paderborn
Goals: 1-0 Halstenberg (4'), 1-1 Grimaldi (90')

Despite leading the game for a long time, Hannover can consider themselves lucky to come away with a point in the end. Paderborn dominated the possession and opportunities throughout, hitting the woodwork twice and being denied multiple times by the hosts’ ‘keeper Ron-Robert Zieler. Nevertheless, Hannover sat deep in the second half and thought they’d secured victory. However, a 90th minute strike from substitute Adriano Grimaldi earned Paderborn a well-deserved equaliser. They move up to fifth while Hannover stay eighth.

Darmstadt 2-0 Schalke
Goals: 1-0 Lidberg 3', 2-0 Lidberg 5'
Red card: Grüger 77'

Darmstadt moved seven points clear of the relegation zone thanks to a 2-0 win over Schalke, leapfrogging the Royal Blues in the process. The hosts effectively did what they needed to do within five minutes thanks to two goals from Isac Lidberg, the first of which was a lovely curled effort into the corner. The away side struggled to produce anything in response, with substitute Max Grüger's red card in the second period epitomising their difficult day at the office. The result means Schalke remain without a goal away from home in 2025, while Darmstadt end a six-game winless run.

Karlsruhe 3-1 Magdeburg
Goals: 0-1 Atik 30', 1-1 Rapp 45'+3, 2-1 Kobald 48', 3-1 Wanitzek 69'
Red card: Atik 90'+5

Magdeburg missed the chance to move into the promotion play-off spot as they suffered just a second away defeat of the season against Karlsruhe. The visitors took the lead around the half-hour mark through Baris Atik, but Nicolai Rapp restored parity on the brink of half-time. A quick goal after the restart from Christoph Kobald was followed by a strike from Marvin Wanitzek, with Magdeburg's disappointing afternoon compounded by an injury-time red card for Atik. While the away team will be disappointed, Karlsruhe celebrate their first win in 2025.

Greuther Fürth 3-0 Eintracht Braunschweig
Goals: 1-0 Futkeu 10', 2-0 Green 88', 3-0 Consbruch 90'+8

Fürth bounced back from their 2-0 defeat to Elversberg last time out with a comfortable win over struggling Braunschweig. Noel Futkeu opened the scoring early on, and it was only the Clover-leaves' lack of clinical touch that kept the away side in the game. Ultimately, though, Julian Green and Jomaine Consbruch scored late - the latter in the eighth minute of injury time - to move Fürth up to 11th in the table. This was also their first clearn sheet of 2025. Braunschweig, meanwhile, lose after back-to-back victories and therefore remain in the relegation play-off spot.

Preußen Münster 2-0 Jahn Regensburg
Goals: 1-0 Friðjónsson (42’), 2-0 Scherder (69’)

Münster got their first win in over a month to climb out of the bottom three, at least overnight, as they claimed all three points against bottom side Regensburg. First-half substitute Hólmbert Aron Friðjónsson struck the opener for the hosts shortly before the break. Jahn offered very little bar some half chances for Eric Hottmann before Preußen grabbed a decisive second with 20 minutes to go when Simon Scherder headed in a Lorenz free-kick to seal the promoted side’s fifth win of the campaign.

Hertha Berlin 0-0 Nuremberg

New Hertha coach Stefan Leitl earned a point on his debut to help the Old Lady edge a little further away from the relegation zone. Hertha were the better side for much of the game but struggled to find a way through a stubborn Nuremberg defence. The visitors, for their part, likewise lacked a spark going forward and lost ground in their bid to keep pace with the promotion-chasing pack above them.

Ulm 0-0 Elversberg

Relegation-battling Ulm picked up a point in a goalless draw against promotion contenders Elversberg. The hosts were the more dangerous of the two teams, and even had the ball in the back of the net before it was disallowed, but they could not clinch the three points. While the result does little to boost their hopes of finishing in the top three, Elversberg have now not conceded in their past three matches.