Bundesliga 2, Matchday 29: Schalke seal huge win in Elversberg to take step closer to promotion
Schalke stayed on top of the pack thanks to a big win at promotion rivals Elversberg despite being reduced to 10 men, while Paderborn stayed hot on their heels with a thrilling win over Magdeburg in which Filip Bilbija scored four goals on Matchday 29...
Elversberg 1-2 Schalke
Goals: 1-0 Schnellbacher 4', 1-1 El-Faouzi 27', 1-2 Sylla 56'
Sent off: Ndiaye (51')
Schalke secured three huge points for their promotion hopes. The opening phase belonged to Elversberg, who took a deserved lead through Luca Schnellbacher. Schalke grew into it and levelled with Soufiane El-Faouzi's stunning bicycle kick. After Moussa Ndiaye was sent off for a second yellow card, the pendulum seemed to swing back towards Elversberg, but Moussa Sylla grabbed a winner for the 10-men division leaders.
Karlsruhe 4-1 Arminia Bielefeld
Goals: 0-1 Knoche 11’, 1-1 Ben Farhat 18’, 2-1 Kobald 62’, 3-1 Wanitzek 77’, 4-1 Fukuda 89’
Mid-table Karlsruhe staged a superb fightback to return to winning ways against Bielefeld. The hosts fell behind to an early Robin Knoche goal, but Arminia's joy was short-lived as Louey Ben Farhat netted his sixth of the campaign, rounding off a clinical counter-attack. Christoph Kobald, Marvin Wanitzek and Shio Fukuda then struck in the second half to inflict a fourth straight away defeat on Bielefeld, who have been dragged back into the relegation scrap.
Paderborn 4-3 Magdeburg
Goals: 1-0 Bilbija 19’, 1-1 Musonda 25’, 2-1 Bilbija 29’, 2-2 Zukowski 37’, 3-2 Bilbija 45’+2, 3-3 Ulrich 59’, 4-3 Bilbija 78’
Paderborn edged Magdeburg in seven-goal thriller to stay hot on the heels of leaders Schalke. Filip Bilbija produced a masterclass, scoring a sensational first-half hat-trick, but the hosts were pegged back each time. Paderborn’s goal-getter then produced his best strike of the afternoon with a superb left-footed rocket from distance to extend his team’s unbeaten run to eight as Magdeburg sit level on points with 16th-placed Eintracht Braunschweig.
Fortuna Düsseldorf 1-2 Holstein Kiel
Goals: 0-1 Harres 50’, 1-1 Itten 71’, 1-2 Nekic 79’
Holstein Kiel claimed a crucial win for their survival hopes the relegation six-pointer at Fortuna Düsseldorf, extending the Storks’ unbeaten run to three games. A tightly contested first half ended goalless, but the visitors didn’t have to wait long for the opening goal as Phil Harres converted Adrián Kaprálik’s low cross shortly after the break. Cedric Itten struck his 12th of the campaign to level, but Ivan Nekic secured the points for the visitors, who inflicted a fourth straight defeat on Fortuna.
Bochum 4-1 Braunschweig
Goals: 1-0 Holtmann 13’, 2-0 Miyoshi 45’+5, 3-0 Alfa-Ruprecht 68’, 3-1 Tempelmann 84’, 4-1 Hofmann 90’+5 (pen)
Bochum secured their first win in four games to earn three vital points to put a six-point gap between themselves and Eintracht Braunschweig in the relegation play-off spot. Gerrit Holtmann opened the scoring with a low-driven strike before Philipp Hofmann saw his strike ruled out for a foul in the build-up. Uwe Rösler’s side doubled their advantage through Koji Miyoshi on the stroke of half-time before Farid Alfa-Ruprecht's increased Bochum’s advantage. Lino Tempelmann struck late for the visitors, but any hopes of a comeback were soon quashed when Hofmann converted his spot-kick to extend Braunschweig’s winless streak to three games.
Nuremberg 0-2 Dynamo Dresden
Goals: 1-0 Koudossou 55’ (OG), 2-0 Bobzien 83’
Dynamo Dresden helped ease their relegation worries with a morale-boosting 2-0 win at Miroslav Klose's Nuremberg. After a lacklustre first period, Dresden took the game to their Bundesliga 2 opponents late on, although it was through a moment of fortune that they scored the opener. Nuremberg defender Henri Koudossou drove the ball into his own net after 55 minutes, with Dresden making it 2-0 in the closing stages after Ben Bobzien's strike. It’s the side’s first win on the road in 2026 after late heartbreak in Paderborn.
Hertha Berlin 0-1 Kaiserslautern
Goals: 0-1 Berisha (47’)
Kaiserslautern got a second straight win to move within a point of sixth-placed Hertha and keep themselves in the race for Bundesliga promotion. The Red Devils had to weather a first-half Berlin storm as the hosts dominated proceedings, but they took the lead straight after half-time when Mërgim Berisha latched onto Semih Şahin's ricocheted shot inside the box. Hertha pushed to respond but found no way through with their season-high 21 attempts on goal as their five-game unbeaten run came to an end.
Preußen Münster 0-0 Greuther Fürth
Preußen Münster and Greuther Fürth both had to settle for a draw in Saturday’s relegation six-pointer. It was a game of few chances at Preußenstadion, especially in the first-half, with neither side wanting to make critical mistakes. Münster came closest to opening the scoring with 30 minutes to go, when Etienne Amenyido forced Silas Prüfrock into an outstanding save. Fürth will surely be the happier of the two sides after earning a rare clean sheet - their first away from home since August 2024.
Darmstadt 0-2 Hannover
Goals: 0-1 Neubauer 14’, 0-2 Thórdarson 56’
Hannover extended their unbeaten run to four games to leapfrog Darmstadt, securing three crucial points in their quest for a return to the Bundesliga. Maurice Neubauer’s low-driven shot fired the visitors into an early lead and while Darmstadt started the second period strongly, Stefán Teitur Thórdarson doubled Hannover’s lead to inflict a first home defeat of the season on their opponents.
Watch: The top 5 goals from Matchday 29
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