Hamburg beat Schalke in opening day thriller
Hamburg won the opening game of the 2023/24 Bundesliga 2 season in a thrilling 5-3 victory over promotion rivals Schalke.
Hamburg 5-3 Schalke
Goals: 1-0 Glatzel 17’ (assist: Pherai), 1-1 Quedraogo 22’ (assist: Terodde), 1-2 45’+1 Ouwejan (assist: Terodde), 2-2 Benes (pen. 56’), 3-2 Benes 60’ (assist: Glatzel), 3-3 Terodde 66’ (assist: Schallenberg), 4-3 Glatzel (90’+1), 5-3 Dompe 90’+9 (assist: Benes)
Sent off: Cisse (71’)
It was an absorbing spectacle from the start, and so it continued until the final whistle blew on a match with 42 shots, three disallowed goals, one penalty and one sending off. HSV took the lead through Robert Glatzel, only for Schalke to turn the game around before the break thanks to 17-year-old debutant Assan Ouedraogo and Thomas Ouwejan. More was to come after the interval as Laszlo Benes struck twice in quick succession to put HSV in front, only for Simon Terodde to equalise shortly afterwards. Ibrahima Cisse’s sending off for a second bookable offence swung momentum back in the home side’s favour, with late strikes from Glatzel and Jean-Luc Dompe sealing the points on a breathtaking encounter.
Other Matchday 1 fixtures:
Hannover 2-2 Elversberg
Goals: 0-1 Correa (22’), 0-2 Faghir 38’ (assist: Stock), 1-2 Teuchert (pen. 42’), 2-2 Tresoldi 54’ (assist: Dehm)
Promoted side Elversberg earned a point on their Bundesliga 2 debut, but were left wondering what might have been after relinquishing a two-goal lead to be pegged back in the second half. Marcel Correa have the newcomers the lead with his historic strike as the club’s first scorer in the division, and they appeared to be heading for a dream start when Wahid Faghir doubled the visitors’ advantage a short while later. However, Cedric Teuchert gave Hannover a lifeline with a converted spot-kick shortly before the interval and Nicolo Tresoldi gave the hosts a share of the points with a smart finish early in the second half.
Osnabrück 2-3 Karlsruhe
Goals: 0-1 Wanitzek (2’), 1-1 Engelhardt (13’), 1-2 Wanitzek 36’ (assist: Nebel), 2-2 Tesche 71’ (assist: Kleinhansl), 2-3 Burnic 87’ (assist: Jung)
Sent off: Ajdini (90’+5)
Promoted side Osnabrück showed great character to twice fight back against Karlsruhe but it was ultimately not enough as they conceded a late goal in a 3-2 defeat. Marvin Wanitzek opened the scoring for the visitors within a few seconds of kick-off, but Tobias Schweinsteiger’s side hit back swiftly when Erik Engelhardt prodded in from close range. Wanitzek scored his second of an unpredictable game, but 36-year-old veteran Robert Tesche brought the home side level again midway through the second half. Karlsruhe summer signing Dzenis Burnic hit a stunning long-distance winner in the closing stages, while Bashkim Ajdini’s sending off in stoppage time compounded a disappointing afternoon for Osnabrück.
Kaiserslautern 1-2 St. Pauli
Goals: 0-1 Saad 51’ (assist: Irvine), 1-1 Ache 66’ (assist: Redondo), 1-2 Hartel (pen. 75’)
Having fallen just short in their promotion hunt last season, St. Pauli showed they mean business this time around with an impressive performance to beat Kaiserslautern. The visitors were the better team from the outset but it wasn’t until early in the second half when the lively Elias Saad broke the deadlock. That goal roused the Red Devils into action and they drew level a quarter of an hour later when Ragnar Ache came off the bench to head them level. Marcel Hartel and Pauli were to have the final say, however, with the midfielder converting from the penalty spot after he had been fouled.
Watch: Highlights of Pauli's win over Lautern
Wehen Wiesbaden 1-1 Magdeburg
Goals: 0-1 Schuler 29’ (assist: Ceka), 1-1 Prtajin 62’ (assist: Heußer)
Sent off: Vukotic (56’)
Promoted side Wiesbaden earned a hard-fought point with 10 men on their return to Bundesliga 2 on Saturday. After falling behind to Luca Schuler’s opener around the half-hour mark, matters went from bad to worse for the hosts in the second half when Aleksandar Vukotic was sent off for a second bookable offence. However, they still managed to take a point from the game when Ivan Prtajin headed in Robin Heußer’s free-kick a short while later.
Fortuna Düsseldorf 1-0 Hertha Berlin
Goals: 1-0 Ginczek 51’ (assist: Zimmermann)
Hertha Berlin's first game back in Bundesliga 2 following their relegation last season was ultimately an unhappy one as they slipped to a 1-0 defeat at Fortuna Düsseldorf. Daniel Ginczek scored the only goal early in the second half in a game that will be remembered as a historic occasion: Hertha head coach Pal Dardai started his one of his sons – 21-year-old Marton – before bringing on his siblings Palko (24) and Bence (17) in the second half, making it the first time in Bundesliga history that three brothers have ever been on the pitch at the same time in the same team.
Greuther Fürth 5-0 Paderborn
Goals: 1-0 Hrgota 35' (assist: Sieb), 2-0 Lemperle 43' (assist: Green), 3-0 Hrgota 45' +3 (assist: Green), 4-0 Sieb 65' (assist: Itter), 5-0 Michalski 77' (assist: Calhanoglu)
Red card: Musliu 8'
Fürth began their prmotion push with a statement of intent but the hosts were aided in their task by Visar Musliu's early dismissal. The Paderborn defender's initial challenge that ended Dennis Srbeny's game received a yellow card. A VAR intervention upgraded the punishment, however. Armindo Sieb replaced the injured Srbeny and the 20-year-old excelled in the contest with a goal and an assist. Captain Branimir Hrgota took advantge of a Sieb pass to fire the Cloverleaves ahead and the home side were out of sight by the break with Tim Lemperle and Hrgota again adding the goals, USMNT man Julian Green setting both latter strikes up. Sieb netted his team's fourth before substitutes Kerim Calhanoglu and Damian Michalski combined to ensure a torrid day for Paderborn and new signing Max Kruse.
Goals: 1-0 Strauß 42' (assist: Roßbach), 2-0 Fröling 47' (assist: Ingelsson)
The hosts ended an 11-game run without a win against Nuremberg thanks to goals either side of half time. Der Club's failure to properly clear from a corner led to John-Patrick Strauß firing in from distance for Rostock's opener. It was to get even bettter for Alois Schwartz's men shortly after the restart when substitute Nils Fröling enjoyed the perfect introduction to the game by combining with compatriot Svante Ingelsson and firing into the corner. Daichi Hayashi later had the ball in the net for Nuremberg but his effort was ruled out for handball.
Eintracht Braunschweig 0-1 Holstein Kiel
Goals: 0-1 Fridjonsson 90'+2
Red card: Kurucay 51'
Jens Härtel suffered heartache on his debut as Braunschweig coach as Holmbert Aron Fridjonsson popped up late to down the ten-men of Eintracht. The home side's cause suffered a setback in the second half when Hasan Kurucay arrived late on Ba-Muaka Simakala and saw a second yellow card. Kiel pushed to take advantage but were largely frustrated until the game entered injury time. Lewis Holtby's cross was nodded into the air by Shuto Machino and Fridjonsson was there to head in at the death.
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