There were three possibilities as to which team could lead the 2nd Bundeliga table after Friday. For now, 1. FC Kaiserslautern salutes from the top.

1. FC Kaiserslautern won a three-way battle Friday night to take the lead in the 2nd Bundesliga standings. The Palatinate team prevailed 3:1 (1:1) over Hannover 96 in the top match to kick off Matchday 9 and are now at the top at least until Saturday – because Fortuna Düsseldorf could not go beyond a 1-1 (0:0) draw against VfL Osnabrück.

With 17 points, FCK is in first place; FC St. Pauli and Hamburger SV (16 each) can still move past on Saturday. Hannover and Düsseldorf (15 each) remain in the chasing pack for the time being.

In Kaiserslautern, Havard Nielsen (17) had given 96 the lead, and in injury time he was once again the center of attention: the striker was shown the red card for rough play (90.+2). In first-half stoppage time, Boris Tomiak (45.+5) had initially equalized for Kaiserslautern with a controversial penalty kick. Hanover’s former international Marcel Halstenberg had used his elbow in an aerial duel.

Aaron Opoku (79th) and Tomiak again (90th +10th, penalty kick) eventually scored to win for the hosts, who are unbeaten since early August. Hannover, meanwhile, conceded its first defeat in six weeks and remains in the chasing pack with 15 points.

In Düsseldorf, the favored Fortuna let the ball run in a way that was worth seeing – but when it could have been dangerous, not much happened for the most part until left-back Emmanuel Iyoha’s long-range goal (60th). Exceptions were an 18-meter shot against the post by Iyoha (36th) and a very good chance by starting debutant Takashi Uchino (51st).

Osnabrück welcomed the hosts behind the halfway line and defended sovereignly for a half. An attacking game existed at most in rudiments. The hope for a counterattack determined the action, only the goal against forced the VfL to be more active. At this point, however, Fortuna was clearly superior, yet Erik Engelhardt managed the late equalizer (90th).