Bundesliga 2, Matchday 5: Hertha Berlin maintain perfect start with win at Osnabrück
Bundesliga 2 pacesetters Hertha Berlin made it five wins from five to start the season in Osnabrück, while Heidenheim claimed a third straight victory.
Matchday 5 results
Osnabrück 1-3 Hertha Berlin
Goals: 0-1 Brekalo 50', 0-2 Sessa 70', 1-2 Gómez 82', 1-3 Alfa-Ruprecht 90+2'
Missed penalty: Meißner 60'
Hertha maintained their 100 percent record this season despite being tested at newly promoted Osnabrück. Josip Brekalo's fourth goal of the season broke the deadlock, and Hertha had Marius Gersbeck to thank for saving Robin Meißner's penalty before a flurry of late goals saw Hertha make it five wins from five to remain top.
Heidenheim 1-0 Holstein Kiel
Goal: 1-0 Föhrenbach 84’Red card: Therkelsen 50’
Heidenheim secured their third straight victory in dramatic fashion with a late strike against winless Holstein Kiel. With chances scarce, the visitors were reduced to 10 men shortly after the break when Jonas Therkelsen received a second yellow card. Defender Jonas Föhrenbach proved Heidenheim’s match-winner with a back-post header as Kiel remain the league’s only winless team.
Karlsruhe 0-3 Energie Cottbus
Goals: 0-1 Michelbrink 45’+2, 0-2 Pelivan 55’, 0-3 Butler 62’
Bundesliga 2 newcomers Energie Cottbus recorded their first clean sheet and ended their run of three games without a win in emphatic fashion in Karlsruhe. With chances at both ends, it was the tale of two goalkeepers in the first half until Lukas Michelbrink broke the deadlock for the visitors. Substitute Dominik Pelivan then doubled Cottbus’s lead before Justin Butler completed the rout, leaving Karlsruhe winless in four games.
St. Pauli 1-0 Wolfsburg
Goals: 1-0 Fujita 88’
St. Pauli secured their first win of the season in dramatic fashion. After Wolfsburg’s Fabian Reese rattled the crossbar with a sumptuous free-kick inside five minutes, Connor Metcalfe saw his long-range strike cannon off the woodwork in the second period. Heading into the dying embers on level terms, Pauli were eventually rewarded when Joel Chima Fujita’s deflected effort found its way past Jakub Zielinski, bringing an end to Wolfsburg’s unbeaten start.
Bochum 1-1 Greuther FürthGoals: 1-0 Hofmann 17’, 1-1 Sillah 71’Red card: Pannewig 82’
Second-half substitute Omar Sillah cancelled out Philipp Hofmann’s first-half header as Greuther Fürth denied Bochum a first home win of the season. Uwe Rösler’s side dominated the first half, and Hofmann nodded home Maximilian Wittek’s corner to open the scoring, but the Clover Leaves improved after the interval and restored parity when Sillah collected Dennis Srbeny’s pass and beat Timo Horn with a composed finish. Bochum’s Mats Pannewig was dismissed late on for a second bookable offence, but Fürth were unable to complete the turnaround.
Magdeburg 3-0 KaiserslauternGoals: 1-0 Iyoha 12’, 2-0 Nollenberger 16’, 3-0 Iyoha 53’
Emmanuel Iyoha scored twice as Magdeburg inflicted a first defeat of the season on Kaiserslautern. Iyoha opened the scoring after goalkeeper Julian Krahl had parried Mateusz Żukowski’s shot into the defender’s path, before a first-time effort from Alexander Nollenberger doubled the hosts’ advantage four minutes later. Iyoha all but ended the game as a contest eight minutes into the second period, burying Moritz-Broni Kwarteng’s lay-off to put the seal on Magdeburg’s third league win of the campaign.
Eintracht Braunschweig 2-2 Dynamo DresdenGoals: 0-1 Rapp 3’, 1-1 Entrup 5’, 2-1 Can Aydin 68’ pen., 2-2 Keller 72’
After slow starts to the season, both Braunschweig and Dresden were keen to pick up maximum points. Nicolai Rapp fired the visitors into an early lead after goalkeeper Ron-Thorben Hoffmann fumbled a corner. However, the hosts responded just over a minute later as Maximilian Entrup converted a Mehmet Can Aydın cross. The game continued at a frantic pace, and after the interval, the hosts took the lead for the first time from the spot after Andi Hoti had been hauled to the ground in the box. Can Aydın stepped up and converted, but just four minutes later, the scores were level once more as Thomas Keller headed home from a corner.
Nuremberg 2-1 Hannover
Goals: 1-0 Justvan 5’, 1-1 Gindorf 8’ (pen.), 2-1 Zoma 65’
Miroslav Klose’s Nuremberg extended their unbeaten start to the season to five matches with victory over Hannover. Julian Justvan pounced on some defensive uncertainty to give Nuremberg an early lead, but the visitors were back level within minutes. Alexios Kalogeropoulos handled Marcel Hartel’s cross, and Lars Gindorf made no mistake from the spot. Hartel grazed the woodwork before the break and Nuremberg’s Piet Scobel headed against the upright early in the second half, before the home side restored their advantage. Mohamed Alì Zoma’s fifth league goal of the season, dispatched from close range, capped a prolonged spell of pressure and proved to be the winner.
Darmstadt 2-1 Arminia Bielefeld
Goals: 1-0 Lee 3’, 1-1 Wörl 59’, 2-1 Smit 86’ (pen.)
Milan Smit’s late penalty earned Darmstadt their first league victory of the 2026/27 campaign. The Lilies took an early lead when Ho-jae Lee fired low past Jonas Kersken from Noah Weißhaupt’s cross, but Bielefeld applied heavy pressure in the second half and were rewarded for their efforts when Marius Wörl slammed home a powerful shot from the edge of the area. However, Arminia midfielder Leon Jensen was penalised late on for handling the ball inside the box, and Smit sent Kersken the wrong way from the spot to earn the hosts all three points.
See the latest Bundesliga 2 standings here
