BTSV and FCK saved
©IMAGO
FC St. Pauli secured promotion to the Bundesliga one match day before the end of the season. The Hamburg team beat relegated VfL Osnabrück 3-0 (1-0) in front of 29,546 spectators at the Millerntor and can no longer be kicked out of one of the two direct promotion places. St. Pauli’s goals were scored by Oladapo Afolayan with a brace and top scorer Marcel Hartel. The last time the Kiezkickers reached the top class was in 2010/11.
Englishman Afolayan gave coach Fabian Hürzeler’s team the lead in the seventh minute. Shortly after the break, he scored a second goal against Osnabrück, who were sometimes dangerous and did not play like a relegated team (58th). Hartel also scored from a cross from Afolayan (68th). Lars Kehl converted a penalty for the visitors in stoppage time (90+1).
The day before, Holstein Kiel had already qualified for the German upper house for the first time. It is now clear that Fortuna Düsseldorf will be relegated to third place in the table and will move to 16th place in the table. of the Bundesliga – currently that would be Union Berlin. The promotions of Kiel and St. Pauli mean that Hamburger SV will play in the second division for the longest time in 2024/25.
Relegation battle: Eintracht Braunschweig and 1. FC Kaiserslautern are saved
Decisions were also made in the relegation battle: Eintracht Braunschweig’s 1-0 victory against Wehen Wiesbaden clearly shows that BTSV remains second-class and that the guests only care about securing the relegation place compared to the competition from Hansa Rostock (17th place). ). one point less). Cup 1 finalist. FC Kaiserslautern has also been saved since this Sunday. On the last day against St. Pauli, Rostock welcomes SC Paderborn.
Braunschweig, coach Daniel Scherning’s team, capped an impressive comeback. When Scherning took over from Jens Härtel at the start of November after matchday 12, Eintracht was in last place in the standings with just five points.
In front of 24,474 spectators at a sold-out Eintracht Stadium, Thórir Jóhann Helgason scored the winning goal for the hosts in the 22nd minute. Eintracht dominated the match in the first half and deservedly led at the break. After the break, Braunschweig withdrew too much and appeared nervous.
2nd league: Karlsruher SC loses home match against Hannover 96
Hannover 96 ended Karlsruher SC’s winning streak. After seven games without defeat, KSC unfortunately lost 1:2 (1:1) against Lower Saxony and is in fifth place in the table with 52 points only due to the better goal difference, ahead of 96.
With their goals, Hanoverians Andreas Voglsammer (19th minute) and Marcel Halstenberg (65th) spoiled the home farewell of former Karlsruhe national player Lars Stindl and KSC captain Jerome Gondorf, who will both end their careers after the last day next weekend. Paul Nebel (44th) equalized 1-1 for the hosts with his header in a varied match.