SC Paderborn takes the lead in the 2nd Bundesliga for the time being with a victory against Eintracht Braunschweig. 1. FC Nürnberg lands a decisive victory in Düsseldorf.
SC Paderborn has climbed to first place in the 2nd Bundesliga for the time being. The turbulent 2-1 (1-0) victory at Eintracht Braunschweig was already the fourth win in a row.
In front of 21,349 spectators, Filip Bilbija put Paderborn ahead after just 30 seconds. It was the second-fastest goal of the second division season so far. In the closing stages, Levente Szabo (86′) initially scored to make it 1-1 for Braunschweig. Just two minutes later, however, Stefano Marino (88th minute) secured a deserved victory for SCP. For Braunschweig, the early goal was devastating. They have now lost five of their last six games and were completely unsettled after the shock in the first minute. Eintracht’s play was full of individual errors and completely lacking in ideas.
The only flaw for Paderborn was that the visitors did not make enough of their dominance. A header from Santiago Castaneda (52′) was disallowed for offside. That kept Eintracht in the game for a long time.
Sven Köhler had a great chance to equalize with a header in the 70th minute. Szabo, who had come on as a substitute shortly before, actually scored to make it a flattering 1-1. In the end, Eintracht made one mistake too many: Leon Bell Bell kicked the ball over the bar before the 1-2.
Nuremberg wins Klose’s “final” in Düsseldorf
The struggling 1. FC Nürnberg won the possible “final” for Miroslav Klose at Fortuna Düsseldorf, taking the pressure off the club coach’s shoulders. The 2014 World Cup winner’s team won 3-2 (1-0) in the Rhineland on Friday evening. Thanks to only their second win of the season, Nuremberg left the relegation spot in 16th place. Goals from Rafael Lubach (28th minute), Julian Justvan (80th minute, handball penalty) and Finn Becker (85th minute) gave the visitors cause for celebration. At Fortuna, where Anouar El Azzouzi (67th minute) and Christian Rasmussen (83rd minute) scored the first home goals of the season, the air is getting thinner again for coach Daniel Thioune. While Düsseldorf had achieved a breakthrough last weekend with a hard-fought 1-0 win at VfL Bochum, they are now well behind the promotion places after their fourth defeat. “I didn’t say it was a final. I just said it was almost midnight,” Klose emphasized on Sky’s microphone before the decisive match: “We have to score points. We know that this is a results-oriented sport.”
In Düsseldorf, the match spluttered along for the first 20 minutes, with few clear-cut chances. The visitors’ lead was therefore all the more surprising: Fortuna’s defense was chaotic during a counterattack by the club, and Lubach scored with a powerful left-footed shot. In the second half, the hosts found their way into the game better and were rewarded with the equalizer from El Azzouzi. This led to a hectic final phase in front of 38,204 fans.
