Bundesliga 2 round up: St Pauli Funk it up

Five could have become six in the promotion chase for the German second division when sixth placed 1860 Munich met fifth placed St Pauli on Monday evening in Bavaria. An 1860 win would have taken them to within two points of the top five. It wasn't to be however, as they had to preserve their unbeaten run with a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena.


Despite the home side carving out a number of chances, St Pauli took the lead with a penalty by Florian Bruns which was oh so very nearly saved by 1860 goalkeeper and former Crystal Palace legend, Gabor Kiraly. The Munich club enjoyed much of the possession but ran out of steam just as they were getting to the important bit in front of goal. That was until some calamitous defending by Patrick Funk allowed Kevin Volland to grab the equaliser with minutes to spare.


After groaning like a stuck pig for five games, the goal laxatives have kicked in good and proper at Fortuna Dusseldorf. The club had slipped out of the promotion spots in recent weeks after dominating the first half of the season. At last, they notched up their first win since the Winter break with an emphatic 5-0 demolition of Karlsruhe. While the win does not see Fortuna shooting up the table it still keeps them firmly in the hunt for promotion spots and must come as a blessed relief to all concerned.


Karlsruhe had conceded more goals at home than any other club before the game and that dubious distinction is going to be difficult to match. They remain in the bottom two and can look forward to St Pauli, next weekend.


Gruether Furth remain at the top of the table for another week after winning at Duisberg, last Friday. Olivier Occean and Robert Zillner heaped the pressure on MSV coach Oliver Reck who received a vote of confidence from the board after the defeat. In fairness, the bottom of the table is as tight as it is at the top (with one exception) and a couple of wins from any team could see them rise up the division.


Still in the promotion hunt are Paderborn who continue to impress with a 3-0 win at Aachen. Eintracht Frankfurt overcame a dogged Energie Cottbus display with a 1- 0 win thanks to a goal from Erwin Hoffer.


Elsewhere, Ingolstadt are moving away from the drop-zone with a ding-dong 3-3 draw against Union Berlin who themselves only have one win in five. Speaking of ding-dongs, Aue’s new coach, Karsten Baumann, registered his first win in his first home match. Ronny König was on the mark, twice in a 4-3 win against FSV Frankfurt in which the away side took the lead.


Finally, things are looking grim for bottom club, Hansa Rostock: They lost 3-2  to Eintracht Braunschweig and there are reports that their coach Wolfgang Wolf was pelted with missiles after the game. A gap is beginning to appear between Rostock and the rest and they look set to return to the third division unless that can improve on their record of two wins in the season so far.


That’s it. Results and tables here.