Bundesliga 2, Matchday 19 overview: Leaders St. Pauli down Düsseldorf; Fürth victorious, HSV lose in epic
Leaders St. Pauli emerged victorious in Düsseldorf in the 'Fortuna For All' fixture while Greuther Fürth went second with a win against Holstein Kiel. Promotion hopefuls Hamburg, meanwhile, lost a seven-goal thriller against Karlsruher.
Matchday 19
Fortuna Düsseldorf 1-2 St. Pauli
Goals: 0-1 Hartel 16' (pen), 0-2 Hartel 26', 1-2 Tzolis 83'
The hosts held the second of three free home games for fans as part of their 'Fortuna For All' project but despite the continuing success of the scheme, the on-field result didn't go the way of the home side this time around. Instead, division leaders Pauli stretrched their overnight advantage at the top of the standings thanks to a Marcel Hartel double. Now on 19 second-division goal involvements for the campaign to date, Hartel struck his first here from the penalty spot after Vincent Vermeij handled in the area. Just ten minutes later and the Kiezkickers doubled their lead with Hartel this time heading in Manolis Saliakas's centre. Fortuna rallied with a late Christos Tzolis effort but it wasn't enough for Daniel Thioune's side, who will have their chance for revenge when the teams meet again in the DFB Cup on Tuesday.
Wehen Wiesbaden 3-1 Hertha Berlin
Goals: 1-0 Kovačević (24'), 2-0 Kovačević (53'), 2-1 Kenny (59'), 3-1 Goppel (72')
Franko Kovačević's first goal for the club gave Wiesbaden the lead on 24 minutes and he soon had a second after the interval as his side earned a major win over Hertha. Jonjoe Kenny did pull one back for the hosts but Thijmen Goppel's third made sure of the points, ending Wiesbaden's five-game sequence without victory. They close the gap on Hertha to just one point in the process.
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Osnabrück 0-0 Paderborn
Red card: Klefisch (17')
The visitors got off to the worst possible start after Kai Klefisch collected two yellow cards inside just 17 minutes, reducing Paderborn to 10-men and leaving them with an uphill task in Osnabrück. They managed to cling on for a point, though, as Osnabrück failed to make their advantage count. As a result, the home team remain rooted to the bottom of the table, missing a golden opportunity to make up valuable ground in the relegation battle.
Hansa Rostock 2-1 Elversberg
Goals: 0-1 Schnellbacher (41'), 1-1 Dressel (69'), 2-1 Pröger (90'+2)
Red card: Jäkel (90'+1)
Hansa Rostock came from behind to secure a dramatic late win over Elversberg on Saturday afternoon as Kai Pröger's injury-time penalty secured the points. Luca Schnellbacher had put Elversberg ahead five minutes before the break by striking for the sixth time this term but his effort was cancelled out by Dennis Dressel with just over 20 minutes to play. It appeared both sides would have to settle for a point until Frederik Jäkel handled in the penalty area in stoppage-time, allowing Pröger to clinch victory at the death.
Hamburg 3-4 Karlsruhe
Goals: 0-1 Matanovic 3', 0-2 Matanovic 5', 1-2 Jatta 33', 2-2 Benes 35', 2-3 Zivzivadze 46', 3-3 Glatzel 62', 3-4 Wanitzek 81'
Karlsruhe emerged victorious from a roller-coaster of a game at the Volksparkstadion on Sunday and in doing so, reduced the gap between themselves and the promotion places. For HSV, the defeat couldn't have come at a worse time, with Die Rothosen losing ground to their city rivals and division leaders St. Pauli. The visitors burst out of he blocks with an Igor Matanović double inside the first five minutes, yet the home side worked to find parity at the break thanks to goals from Bakery Jatta and Laszlo Benes. Christian Eichner's men then edged in front again immediately after the restart thanks to Budu Zivzivadze prodded finish yet home forward Robert Glatzel took advantage of Jatta's assist to make it 3-3. A grandstand finish followed and when Marvin Wanitzek found the right corner of the goal inside the final ten minutes, home hearts were broken.
Greuther Fürth 2-1 Holstein Kiel
Goals: 1-0 Sieb 59', 1-1 Erras 64', 2-1 Hrgota 75'
The Cloverleaves leapfrogged their opponents into second spot with a significant win in the promotion stakes at the Sportpark Ronhof. Now unbeaten in eight second-tier games, winning six, Fürth hit the front in the second half against their promotion rivals. Scorer of the Matchday 18 winner against Paderbon, Armindo Sieb completed a counter-attack to open the scoring. It took Kiel just five minutes to equalise, however, Patrick Erras heading home a Lewis Holtby corner. With the game entering its final quarter of an hour, Greuther captain Branimir Hrgota fired in from long range to extend the hosts' impressive run.
Eintracht Braunschweig 1-0 Magdeburg
Goals: 1-0 Bičakčić 16'
Red card: Elfadli 74'
Eintracht collected a crucial three points in the battle to beat the drop while dragging visiting Magdeburg - who were reduced to ten men here - into the relegation fight as a result. Despite sitting second from bottom in the standings, the hosts were going in search of a fourth successive win and they got off to the perfect start when Ermin Bičakčić slotted into an empty net after Johan Gomez's effort was initially saved. The visitors' cause wasn't helped when Daniel Elfadli was ordered off for a second bookable offence with a little over a quarter of an hour to play. The result means Magdeburg are now just three points ahead of Braunschweig in the second-division standings.
Kaiserslautern 4-1 Schalke
Goals: 1-0 Ache (10'), 1-1 Churlinov (51'), 2-1 Ache (59'), 3-1 Stojilkovic (67'), 4-1 Opoku (70')
A Ragnar Ache brace and quick-fire double from Filip Stojilkovic and Aaron Opoku helped Kaiserslautern stun fellow-strugglers Schalke on Friday evening. Ache opened the scoring after just 10 minutes, but Schalke hit back shortly after the break as Darko Churlinov raced through to pull his side level. Ache's superb header restored the home team's advantage eight minutes later before Stojilkovic and Opoku found the back of the net within three minutes of each other. Lautern end their nine match winless run and jump a point above Schalke
Hannover 3-0 Nuremberg
Goals: 1-0 Nielsen (6'), 2-0 Nielsen (38'), 3-0 Teuchert (90'+2)
Hannover romped past Nuremberg on Friday night, with a 3-0 victory leapfrogging the hosts over their visitors in the process. Håvard Nielsen struck twice in the first-half to set Hannover well on their way, before substitute Cedric Teuchert sealed all three points in injury-time. It was Hannover's first league win since November and they move a point ahead of Nuremberg as a result.
Watch: The top 5 goals on Bundesliga 2 Matchday 19
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