2. Bundesliga Update - Matchday 14

The 2. Bundesliga returns from the international break with a flurry of activity. Here are the results from Matchday 14:

Bochum 1 – Osnabrück 1

An entertaining affair at the Vonovia Ruhrstadion on Friday evening saw Bochum and Osnabrück share spoils.

The hosts opened the scoring in the 2^nd minute with their first real chance of the match. It was pinball wizard in the Lila-Weiß penalty area and the ball eventually found its way to Danny Blum, who bashed in off the crossbar. Osnabrück had a chance for a quick response when they were awarded a penalty in the 9^th minute after Saulo Decarli fouled Silvère Ganvoula M’boussy, but Bochum keeper Manuel Riemann saved the subsequent spot kick.

Back and forth action saw both sides go close throughout the remainder of the half, but just before halftime, Arsenal loanee Jordi Osei-Tutu slid into a late challenge in the Bochum box and the visitors were awarded a second penalty. This time, Bremen loanee Niklas Schmidt converted to knot things up.

Bochum were then awarded their own penalty in the 62^nd minute for a handball, but then it was Osnabrück keeper Philipp Kühn’s turn to make a save, diving to his right and keeping out Ganvoula’s effort. Both keepers were called into action throughout the remainder of the second half and largely thanks to their efforts, no further goals were scored.

Erzgebirge Aue 3 – St Pauli 1

Kiezkicker’s indifferent form continued as hosts Erzgebirge ran out deserved winners at the Erzgebirgsstadion.

After squandering an early chance, St Pauli went behind in the 12^th minute, when center-back James Lawrence’s attempted side footed clearance inadvertently set up Erzgebirge’s Florian Krüger to blast in from close range. Lawrence’s night got worse 10 minutes later when VAR declared that he had committed a handball in the box, resulting in an Erzgebirge penalty. It was a harsh decision, because it was clearly not intentional and there was little the Welsh defender could do to get his hand out of the way when Krüger hit the ball at him while trying to take it down, but a penalty it was. Dimitrij Nazarov beat Robin Himmelmann to his left and gave Erzgebirge a two goal cushion.

St Pauli pulled one back in the second half when striker Henk Veerman beat keeper Martin Männel off a free kick, but this was not without controversy itself as the ball clearly struck Veerman’s hand after he chested it down, but the goal was allowed to stand. It ultimately didn’t matter, because Erzgebirge restored their two goal lead just 6 minutes later. An excellent dummy by Tom Baumgart set up Pascal Testroet who took the ball, spun away from his marker, and beat Himmelmann with his right foot.

Kiezkicker could do nothing further and saw their winless run reach 6 matches, while Erzgebirge move back up to 4^th in the table.

Hamburg 2 – Dynamo Dresden 1

Two goals in the last 25 minutes saw hosts HSV come from behind to snatch all 3 points against visiting Dresden at the Volksparkstadion on Saturday afternoon.

The first half featured fantastic performances by both keepers as Hamburg’s Daniel Heuer Fernandes and Dresden’s Kevin Broll were called into action repeatedly to keep the opposing sides at bay. Broll’s save from Jeremy Dudziak’s dipping volley was particularly noteworthy.

Despite having fewer chances, it was Dresden who unexpectedly took the lead in the 47^th minute. Wing-back Niklas Kreuzer’s cross from the left eluded everyone, including Heuer Fernandes, and snuck in off the far post. HSV would level things 20 minutes later, but not without controversy. Sonny Kittel was initially flagged offside after turning in Tim Leibold’s long-ball forward, but VAR reversed the decision and awarded the goal. It was very close, but it looked to be the correct decision.

Hamburg then won the match in stoppage time. Broll managed to keep out Leibold’s firecracker from the right, but he could only parry the ball directly into the path of an onrushing David Kinsombi, who kept his composure and headed coolly into an empty net.

It was a harsh result for Dresden, who played well in a tough environment, but the loss keeps them in the relegation places, while Hamburg move back to the top of the table on goal difference.

Arminia Bielefeld 1 – Sandhausen 1

Visiting Sandhausen journeyed north to the Bielefelder Alm and put in an impressive display to hold then top of the table Bielefeld to a draw.

Despite featuring one of the best attacking units in the division, and quite possibly the two best players in the league through the first 3 months of the season in Fabian Klos and Andreas Voglsammer, it was Sandhausen who looked the more dangerous attacking team in this match. They had an early chance when Klos gave away a penalty in the 7^th minute, but Bielefeld keeper Stefan Ortega saved Kevin Behrens’s penalty kick by diving to his left.

Jonathan Clauss gave the hosts the lead in the 19^th minute with a splendid solo effort that he nestled into the far corner. Rather than be discouraged however, Sandhausen turned up the wick and found their equalizer 12 minutes later, Behrens making up for his earlier penalty miss by beating Ortega from fellow striker Aziz Bouhaddouz’s assist.

Sandhausen was the better team for the remainder of the match, but couldn’t best Ortega a second time, so they had to be content with a point after 90 minutes. Bielefeld meanwhile would be disappointed with the result, as it drops them back into a tie with Hamburg on 29 points.

Holstein Kiel 6 – Wiesbaden 3

The BRITA-Arena was the setting for an absolute goal-fest as a resurgent Kiel side outgunned bottom side Wiesbaden in the season’s highest scoring affair, thus far.

Wiesbaden captain and leading scorer Manuel Schäffler opened the scoring in the 5^th minute from the penalty spot after teammate Daniel-Kofi Kyereh had been fouled in the box. Die Störche wasted little time in responding as Dusseldorf loanee Emmanuel Iyoha banged in the equalizer just 3 minutes later. This was just the opening salvo as Kiel fired in three further goals in the next 20 minutes. Alexander Mühling bagged a brace, first with a dropkick under the crossbar and then from the penalty spot, and Janni Luca Serra made it 4-1 shortly thereafter.

Kyereh nabbed one back for the hosts, who tried to get back in the match, but they were already too far back as Kiel held the majority of possession (57%-43%) and were very clinical with their chances. Salih Özcan made it 5-1 on the counter in the 50^th minute and, after Schäffler pulled one back 2 minutes later with his second of the match, midfielder Jonas Meffert wrapped up the scoring in stoppage time to put an end to an emphatic away win.

Kiel move up to 8^th, while Wiesbaden remain at the bottom of the table.

Stuttgart 3 – Karlsruher 0

Stuttgart rebounded from a poor performance in Matchday 13 with a ruthless derby performance at the Mercedes-Benz Arena on Sunday afternoon against fierce rivals Karlsruher.

It was a physical affair from the get go, with Stuttgart attacker Nicolás González picking up a yellow card in the 10^th minute for a shoulder charge that levelled KSC full-back Damian Roßbach just in front of an outraged visiting bench. Counterpart Philipp Hofmann was lucky to escape discipline after he elbowed Stuttgart keeper Gregor Kobel in the head while going for a header just moments later.

The hosts had most of the advantage in the first half, with González and fellow Argentine Santiago Ascacibar coming close. KSC however were dangerous on the counter and Manuel Stiefler had a glorious chance to put his side ahead early in the second half, only to be denied first by the post, and then by Kobel who saved from the rebound.

Philipp Förster finally broke the deadlock in the 60^th minute, scoring with a deflected second attempt after his first shot was blocked. Orel Mangala made it 2-0 in the 75^th minute by side footing past keeper Benjamin Uphoff from the edge of the penalty area.

Stuttgart had to finish the match with 10 men after center-back Marc-Oliver Kempf was dismissed for an ugly scissor-kick takedown of KSC substitute Christoph Kobald, but Stuttgart sub Hamadi Al Ghaddioui wrapped up the scoring in stoppage time to give his side a comprehensive derby win.

Jahn Regensburg 3 – Heidenheim 1

In a battle of two of the best organized sides in the division, it was Mersad Selimbegović’s Regensburg side who ran out winners over Heidenheim at the Continental Arena.

Both sides traded early chances, Regensburg captain Marco Grüttner coming closest when his thunderbolt rattled off the crossbar. The hosts finally opened the scoring in first half stoppage time, when, from a corner, center-back Tim Knipping beat his marker and snuck a flicked header just inside the far post.

Despite trailing in most offensive stats, Heidenheim equalized on 62 minutes through substitute Maurice Multhaup, who finished off a fast counterattack. The visitors then had a big chance to take the lead with a free kick just outside the box, but Marc Schnatterer’s effort sailed over the bar.

Regensburg worked themselves back into things and retook the lead in the 74^th minute with a fantastic strike by Andreas Albers, who scored with a spectacular half bicycle kick after chesting down a long ball forward. Substitute Jann-Christopher George wrapped up the scoring in the 85^th minute with a blazing volley past Heidenheim keeper Kevin Müller.

The win moves Regensburg up to 5^th, level on points with Heidenheim.

Greuther Fürth 0 – Nürnberg 0

Neither side of the Franconian Derby could find the back of the net in a goalless draw at the Sportpark Ronhof Thomas Sommer.

Kleeblätter and Der Club combined for nearly more fouls than shots in Jens Keller’s debut match as Nürnberg manager. It was an expected tense atmosphere and while Fürth had the majority of possession (60%-40%), Nürnberg were in the match the whole way.

The closest anyone came was very early, when Nürnberg left-back Enrico Valentini stung the palms of Fürth keeper Sascha Buchert, but that was about as close as anyone got to a goal in this testy affair.

Fürth stay in the top half of the table in 7^th, while Nürnberg remain just above the relegation zone in 14^th.

Darmstadt 2 – Hannover 1

Hannover’s miserable start to the season continued on Monday evening as they dropped yet another match at the HDI-Arena, where they have yet to win thus far this season.

In the debut match for new manager Kenan Kocak, Die Roten controlled most of the possession (64%-36%), but had a difficult time finding the all-important final ball.

The visitors took an early lead in the 4^th minute when a mixup in the Hannover defense allowed midfielder Marvin Mehlem to sneak the ball off of keeper Ron-Robert Zieler and the ball trickled over the line off of the unfortunate Waldemar Anton.

Japan international Genki Haraguchi equalized for Die Roten in the 14^th minute. The midfielder showed once again that if you continue your run, it will sometimes pay off, because when Miiko Albornoz’s cross from the left eluded its intended target, Hendrik Weydandt, Haraguchi was there to follow-up and score.

However, Darmstadt retook the lead in the 29^th minute when Tobias Kempe finished off a splendid team goal. Hannover then thought they’d equalized yet again late through Marc Stendara, but VAR chalked off the goal due to a foul in the buildup. This incensed Stendara so much that he was sent off in stoppage time after continued protests.

Darmstadt move up to 10^th, while Hannover fall to 16^th.

Table

1. Hamburg – 29 points (+19 GD)

2. Arminia Bielefeld – 29 points (+15 GD)

3. Stuttgart – 26 points

4. Erzgebirge Aue – 23 points

5. Jahn Regensburg – 20 points (+6 GD)

6. Heidenheim – 20 points (+5 GD)

Top Scorers

T1. Fabian Klos (Arminia Bielefeld) – 10 goals

T1. Manuel Schäffler (Wiesbaden) – 10 goals

T3. Silvère Ganvoula M’boussy (Bochum) – 8 goals

T3. Andreas Voglsammer (Arminia Bielefeld) – 8 goals

T3. Sonny Kittel (Hamburg) – 8 goals

Key Upcoming Matches – Matchday 15 (November 29 – December 1)

Hamburg @ Osnabrück – Friday 11/29, 12:30 pm EST

Erzgebirge Aue @ Bochum – Saturday 11/30, 7:00 am EST

Stuttgart @ Sandhausen – Sunday 12/1, 7:30 am EST

Arminia Bielefeld @ Darmstadt – Sunday 12/1, 7:30 am EST