Soccer dwarf Elversberg storms to third place in the 2nd division
The change of coach in Osnabrück has no effect: VfL remain winless for the seventh time in a row and are therefore bottom of the table. Leaders St. Pauli win at Hansa Rostock after falling behind, while SV Elversberg beat SC Paderborn.
Hansa Rostock - FC St. Pauli 1:3 (1:3)
Leaders FC St. Pauli march confidently towards the fall championship in the 2nd Bundesliga. The still unbeaten Kiez team turned around a 3:2 (3:1) deficit in the northern duel at Hansa Rostock in impressive style to secure their fourth away win of the season. The successful dress rehearsal for the summit on Friday (December 1/18:30/Sky and in the live ticker at ntv.de) against the runners-up Hamburger SV means that coach Fabian Hürzeler's team go into the city derby with a three-point lead.
Rostock's fourth defeat of the season at home to Ostseestadion put a damper on their fight to stay up. The first defeat after a run of four points from the previous two matches means the Kogge are still perilously close to the danger zone in the bottom third of the table. The home side got off to the hoped-for start thanks to Junior Brumado's early opening goal (9th, penalty).
However, the ambitious visitors, who are the only team in the lower division without a defeat this season, struck back in the manner of a top team: within 14 minutes of going behind, the Hamburgers decided the game with goals from Manolis Saliakis (15th), who scored a dream goal, Marcel Hartel (19th) and Oladapo Afolayan (23rd). Rostock only managed to pull a goal back through Brumado (80', penalty).
However, Hansa were unable to recover sufficiently from the previous shock of the three-pointer. Rostock coach Alois Schwartz's side were never able to get a grip on the game after that. However, the visitors' control of the game meant that the hosts were largely unable to mount a comeback. On the contrary: Several times before and after the break, Hürzeler's confident team had opportunities to increase the score.
SV Elversberg - SC Paderborn 4:1 (1:1)
Newcomers SV Elversberg picked up three important points in the promotion race despite falling behind and at least temporarily moved up to third place. The Saarland side came away with a 4:1 (1:1) win against SC Paderborn. Sebastian Klaas (22') took advantage of a chain of errors in the Elversberg back line to give the East Westphalians the lead. Luca Schnellbacher (41/50) turned the game around with a brace. Paul Stock (57') and Maurice Neubauer (61') made everything clear with their goals.
Elversberg, who picked up their second win in a row after their 2-1 victory at Schalke, cleverly exploited the space available after the opening goal in the second half and took the visitors' defense by surprise time and time again.
In the run-up to the match, former national team player Max Kruse ended his SCP chapter on Friday. According to the club, the 35-year-old's contract was terminated "in good mutual agreement". Kruse only played 194 minutes for Paderborn. "Both sides envisioned the sporting development differently," said sporting director Benjamin Weber. Because the current situation was "not satisfactory for the club and for the player, we have parted ways," emphasized Weber.
VfL Osnabrück - 1. FC Magdeburg 0:2 (0:1)
VfL Osnabrück lost 0:2 (0:0) to 1. FC Magdeburg in the professional coaching debut of coach Martin Heck. His predecessor Tobias Schweinsteiger had been forced to leave VfL before the international break following the 2:3 defeat at Eintracht Braunschweig. Osnabrück remained winless for the seventh game in a row and are bottom of the table. Baris Atik (52') scored the opening goal for Magdeburg, who were able to pull away from the relegation zone. Luca Schuler (71') removed any last doubts about the three-pointer for the visitors.
The FCM had a great chance to take the lead as early as the 14th minute. VfL keeper Lennart Grill deflected a ball onto the crossbar, but his team-mate Niklas Wiemann had unfortunately deflected the ball towards his own goal. Osnabrück struggled to find their rhythm. Christian Joe Conteh (25) had the first opportunity for the hosts on his feet, but was unable to beat Magdeburg goalkeeper Dominik Reimann from a tight angle.
The hosts then tried to gain more control of the game. However, the Saxony-Anhalt side always remained dangerous with their no-frills play. The visitors were particularly effective with their transitional play.
Source: www.ntv.de
