2. Bundesliga Update - Matchday 3

Just 3 weeks into the season, Matchday 3 saw only eight matches played due to a COVID-19 enforced postponement of the scheduled Hamburg-Erzgebirge fixture. Here are the results:

Sandhausen 1 – St Pauli 0 (Friday, October 2 – BWT-Stadion am Hardtwald)

An own goal late in the first half gave hosts Sandhausen their second straight home win to open the season.

St Pauli dominated the opening 20 minutes, but couldn’t manage to hit the target. Sandhausen gradually worked their way into the match and capitalized on a piece of good fortune just before halftime. Julius Biada’s mazy run ended with a blocked shot, but the ball fell straight to Dennis Diekmeier, who’s shot deflected in off Kiezkicker’s Daniel Buballa.

Sandhausen’s Aleksandr Zhirov had a second half goal ruled out for handball in the build-up, and keeper Martin Fraisl kept St Pauli out for the remaining minutes, handing the visitors their first loss of the season.

Bochum 0 – Osnabrück 0 (Friday, October 2 – Vonovia Ruhrstadion)

A late red card was the only thing that kept the match between Bochum and Osnabrück from being a complete snoozefest.

Bochum were the better side on the day, but they missed their chance for an early opener in comedic style, as first Silvère Ganvoula M’boussy hit the post with an open net at his mercy, only for teammate Robert Žulj to blast over the crossbar with an equally open net before him seconds later.

Lila-Weiß didn’t really offer much going forward, save for a Niklas Schmidt header that went wide in the second half. Osnabrück’s Bashkim Renneke was dismissed in the 83^rd minute after picking up his second yellow card, but Bochum just couldn’t find the back of the net and had to settle for a point on the night.

Heidenheim 0 – Paderborn 0 (Saturday, October 3 – Voith-Arena)

While slightly more entertaining than its counterpart the day before, the matchday’s second nil-nil draw left both teams disappointed with the result.

The two sides combined for nearly as many fouls (19) as shots (20) and Paderborn couldn’t do much of anything against Heidenheim’s organized defense. However, the hosts couldn’t find a way past Paderborn’s Leopold Zingerle at the other end, much to their continued consternation.

Paderborn managed to get their first point of the season, but have yet to score a win through 3 matches. Heidenheim meanwhile have only 1 win thus far, which is not how they wanted to start their season either.

Regensburg 1 – Karlsruher 0 (Saturday, October 3 – Jahnstadion Regensburg)

Ten-man Regensburg managed to hang on against Karlsruher to take their first win of the season.

Andreas Albers scored the lone goal of the match in the 44^th minute when he headed in Albion Vrenezi’s cross from the right. KSC had a golden opportunity to equalize in the second half when Regenburg’s Sebastian Stolze fouled Robert Bormuth in the box. But Philipp Hofmann slipped in his run-up and the resulting spot kick was easy for keeper Alexander Meyer to handle.

Benedikt Gimber was sent off for the hosts in the 81^st minute after picking up a second yellow, but Karlsruher couldn’t take advantage and lost their third straight match to begin the season.

Hannover 4 – Braunschweig 1 (Saturday, October 3 – HDI-Arena)

The first Lower Saxony Derby in three and a half years resulted in a comprehensive win for Hannover.

A scoreless first half was not a harbinger of things to come in the final 45 minutes. Braunschweig’s Martin Kobylański opened the scoring in the 51^st minute with a curling effort from range, but after that, it was all Die Roten.

Linton Maina equalized just 3 minutes later and Hannover put 3 further goals into the Braunschweig net in a 15-minute span later in the half. Hendrik Weydandt, Niklas Hult, and Genki Haraguchi were the scorers as Hannover proved to be too much for their rivals on this derby day.

Holstein Kiel 2 – Düsseldorf 1 (Sunday, October 4 – Holstein-Stadion)

An own goal and a late penalty gave Kiel their second win of the season and took them to the top of the table.

Florian Hartherz hasn’t had the best start to his tenure with Düsseldorf and he gave Die Störche an early lead when he inexplicably headed Niklas Hauptmann’s cross into his own net. But Kiel gave it back in the second half when Jonas Meffert turned Thomas Pledl’s effort into his own net.

Substitute Janni Luca Serra had a goal disallowed in the 72^nd minute, but Alexander Mühling buried a late penalty to give Kiel the lead and eventually the win.

Würzburger 2 – Greuther Fürth 2 (Sunday, October 4 – flyeralarm Arena)

New manager Marco Antwerpen guided Würzburger to their first point of the season, but they could’ve very easily had more.

Twice the hosts took the lead over Kleeblätter, first through Robert Herrmann after only 2 minutes, and then through Dominic Baumann from the penalty spot, but both times Fürth were able to claw their way back and find an equalizer.

Branimir Hrgota got the first goal for Kleeblätter and center-back Maximilian Bauer broke Würzburger’s hearts with a late header from a corner in second half stoppage time.

Darmstadt 3 – Nürnberg 2 (Monday, October 5 – Max-Morlock-Stadion)

Darmstadt came from behind twice to eventually beat hosts Nürnberg in the weekend’s final match.

Robin Hack gave Der Club an early lead with a diving header. Despite a big possession advantage, Darmstadt didn’t find an equalizer until the second half. Serdar Dursun bagged his first goal of the season in the 55^th minute, only for Felix Lohkemper to put Nürnberg back in front with a curling effort just 6 minutes later.

Marvin Mehlem tied it again in the 76^th minute with a splendid solo effort and Nicolai Rapp gave Darmstadt the win in stoppage time with a header from Tobias Kempe’s free kick.