2. Bundesliga Update - Matchday 4

Another 8 fixture matchday due to a COVID-19 enforced postponement, but Matchday 4 gives us our first look at the top of the table and the top scorers chart. Here are the results:

Hamburg 1 – Greuther Fürth 0 (Saturday, October 17 – Sportpark Ronhof Thomas Sommer)

Despite playing with 10 men for most of the second half, Hamburg made it 3 wins out of 3 to begin the season.

It was a back-and-forth affair for most of the opening half, but it was the visitors who found the back of the net in the 43^rd minute. Simon Terodde has been excellent for HSV thus far, and his cheeky pass through the box found teammate Khaled Narey who passed the ball over the line for the lead.

Hamburg went a man down in the 53^rd minute, when center-back Toni Leistner committed a last-man foul to prevent Kleeblätter’s Håvard Nielsen from running through on goal.

Fürth substitute Jamie Leweling thought he’d scored in the 73^rd minute, but it was waved off due to a handball in the buildup. The hosts couldn’t solve newly signed HSV keeper Sven Ulreich, and HSV saw out the remaining moments to maintain their perfect start to the season.

Karlsruher 3 – Sandhausen 0 (Saturday, October 17 – Wildparkstadion)

An emphatic home win snapped Karlsruher’s season-opening 3 match winless streak.

This one was all KSC from the first whistle. Marco Djuricin caught the Sandhausen defense napping and his cross found an unmarked and onside Philipp Hofmann for the opener in just the 3^rd minute. They scored again at the half hour mark when Dominik Kother reacted fastest following a goalmouth scramble and lashed the ball into the back of the net.

Sandhausen keeper Martin Fraisl couldn’t handle Christoph Kobald’s 46^th minute header from a corner and spilled the ball into his own net. From then on, Karlsruher were never really threatened. They could’ve had more on the day, but were denied twice by the woodwork in the waning moments of the match.

Braunschweig 2 – Bochum 1 (Saturday, October 17 – Eintracht-Stadion)

10-man Braunschweig overcame an early deficit and grabbed their first win of the season

Simon Zoller’s 5^th minute goal gave Bochum an early lead, but Braunschweig’s Fabio Kaufmann levelled things just 18 minutes later with a fine effort from the edge of the box.

Things stayed that way until the hour mark, when Braunschweig keeper Felix Dornebusch was sent off for handling the ball outside his box. He tried to make a sliding clearance on Bochum’s Silvère Ganvoula M’boussy, who was through on goal, but the ball deflected up and off his elbow, necessitating a straight red. Jasmin Fejzić came off the bench to replace him, but Braunschweig had to play the last half hour a man down.

But much to Bochum’s shock, Braunschweig grabbed the lead just 7 minutes after the dismissal when Nick Proschwitz headed in from Martin Kobylański’s corner. Fejzić kept Bochum at bay until the final whistle, which was met with jubilant celebrations by the Braunschweig faithful.

Holstein Kiel 2 – Würzburger 0 (Sunday, October 18 – flyeralarm Arena)

Die Störche were in command from almost the get go and ran out to a relatively easy win over struggling Würzburger.

Janni Luca Serra nabbed the opener on 22 minutes, but it was Lee Jae-sung’s fantastic work in the build-up that made the goal happen. Try as they did, Würzburger did not threaten much in the remainder of the first half, nor into the second half.

Kiel never really looked uncomfortable and when Würzburger’s Lars Dietz deflected the ball into his own net for a 75^th minute own goal, the result was effectively sealed.

Erzgebirge Aue 2 – Heidenheim 1 (Sunday, October 18 – Erzgebirgsstadion)

Suffice to say, this season hasn’t started in the way that Heidenheim would’ve wanted, as they suffered their second defeat in their opening four matches.

Erzgebirge keeper Martin Männel was busy early and often, making several key saves in the first half to keep the match scoreless. Heidenheim’s offensive struggles allowed Erzgebirge to slowly work their way into the match and they took the lead in the 54^th minute when substitute Malcolm Cacutalua headed in from a free kick.

Pascal Testroet latched onto a long ball and snuck it past keeper Kevin Müller to double his side’s lead in the 79^th minute. Tobias Mohr salvaged a late goal for Heidenheim from the penalty spot after a soft foul was given, but the visitors could not find another goal, capping off another disappointing performance.

Paderborn 1 – Hannover 0 (Sunday, October 18 – Benteler-Arena)

Paderborn finally got off the schneid and took their first win of the season at the expense of Hannover.

Both sides were wasteful early on, spurning several good chances, but then from out of nowhere right-back Johannes Dörfler gave Paderborn a 26^th minute lead with a beautifully curled effort from the edge of the box.

From then on, the match was a showcase of offensive profligacy. Paderborn had several fine opportunities to pad their lead, but couldn’t find the target. But as bad as they were, Hannover were even worse, recording only 1 shot on target in the whole 90 minutes. Paderborn accepted their wastefulness gratefully and grabbed all 3 points.

Düsseldorf 2 – Regensburg 2 (Sunday, October 18 – Merkur Spiel-Arena)

Düsseldorf staged a late comeback to erase a two-goal deficit in the final 10 minutes.

Andreas Albers’s flying header gave Regensburg the lead in the opening minute. Düsseldorf tried to respond soon after, but couldn’t hit the target and instead Regensburg’s Sebastian Stolze beat the offside trap in the 20^th minute and doubled his side’s lead.

Both keepers made fantastic saves in the second half, but Düsseldorf finally broke through in the 81^st minute, when Kenan Karaman made a mazy run into the box and buried the finish. Rouwen Hennings tied it 5 minutes later with an unmarked header from close range.

Regensburg had chances to win it late, but couldn’t find a third goal, meaning both sides had to settle for a point.

St Pauli 2 – Nürnberg 2 (Monday, October 19 – Millerntor-Stadion)

Twice Nürnberg took the lead away to St Pauli and twice the hosts came back to tie it.

Just 4 minutes after Robin Hack had a goal disallowed for an offside, Manuel Schäffler scored his first goal for Der Club after catching the St Pauli defense too high up the pitch. Rodrigo Zalazar levelled things for Kiezkicker from the penalty spot in the 28^th minute after VAR determined that Tom Krauß fouled Daniel-Kofi Kyereh in the box.

Nürnberg earned a penalty of their own early in the second half through a handball and Johannes Geis converted from the spot. But again, they couldn’t hold the lead, and Daniel Buballa scored St Pauli’s second of the match on the half-volley in the 78^th minute.

Neither side could find a third and 2-2 is where it ended.

Table

1. Holstein Kiel – 10 points

2. Hamburg – 9 points*

3. Erzgebirge Aue – 7 points*

4. Hannover – 6 points (+3 GD)

5. Regensburg – 6 points (+1 GD)

6. Sandhausen – 6 points (-2 GD)

Top Scorers

1. Simon Terodde (Hamburg) – 4 goals

T2. Daniel Keita-Ruel (Sandhausen) – 3 goals

T2. Daniel-Kofi Kyereh (St Pauli) – 3 goals

T2. Christian Santos (Osnabrück) – 3 goals

T2. Simon Zoller (Bochum) – 3 goals

*Hamburg and Erzgebirge have each only played 3 matches thus far