The promotion battle in the 2nd Bundesliga is coming to a head – and Hamburger SV remains right in the middle of it. After two recent defeats, new coach Steffen Baumgart’s team won 3-0 (1-0) against Wehen Wiesbaden and moved past Fortuna Düsseldorf into the relegation place.
Behind the confident league leaders FC St. Pauli (54 points) and Holstein Kiel (49), HSV (44) and Fortuna (43) currently have the best prospects of promotion, at least through the back door, after mistakes by their competitors.
Miro Muheim (33rd), Laszlo Benes (51st) and Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer (85th) scored for Hamburg. The fans’ worries that the return to the Bundesliga would not work out were intensified by Düsseldorf’s victory at VfL Osnabrück (4-0). HSV played its own game confidently.
Kiel wins at Elversberg
“We did a good job today,” said Ludovit Reis to the club’s own broadcaster. “After the international break, we will take the positive feeling from this home success with us and enter the final spurt of the season together.” Coach Baumgart was not entirely satisfied with the pay-TV channel Sky: “We have already seen in one or two situations that not every pass could arrive the way it was supposed to.”
Hannover 96 (40) had to be content with a 1-1 draw against relegation-threatened 1. FC Kaiserslautern. SC Paderborn (39) lost 1-2 against second-to-last Eintracht Braunschweig. Karlsruher SC (38) at least got within reach with a 7-0 win against 1. FC Magdeburg. Hertha BSC (37) can also still hope for the promotion relegation place after the surprisingly clear 5:2 (3:2) in the relegation duel with Schalke 04.
At the top, St. Pauli almost seems gone. “It’s not appropriate to say what’s coming for you next season,” said Cristian Fiel, coach of 1. FC Nürnberg, to his colleague Fabian Hürzeler after the defeat against the neighborhood club: “I’ll just say: have fun.” The lead over the relegation place is “definitely” comfortable, said Pauli’s goalscorer Johannes Eggestein on the pay-TV channel Sky: “We’ve worked on that over the entire season.”
Kiel also acted like a newcomer to the strong newcomer SV Elversberg and achieved a 2-0 win. “You saw our mentality in every action today,” said former international Lewis Holtby. “It’s fun to be part of this group. I’m now looking forward to eight very difficult but also great remaining games.”
The FC St. Pauli players are also looking forward to it. If their trend continues, they could soon make it to the Bundesliga. Most likely before the Hamburg derby on matchday 32 at the beginning of May. Then for FC St. Pauli it could only be about prestige – for HSV, however, it is primarily about points for promotion.
