Four games before the end of the season, the battle for the top spot is about to get even more exciting. Hertha BSC took advantage of a slight slip-up by table-toppers eintracht braunschweig to shorten the gap from seven to five points thanks to a 6-1 win at sandhausen. "We have to keep up, at some point they’re going to weaken," orated coach jos luhukay, who benefited with his berliners from lower saxony’s 1-1 draw with erzgebirge aue. Bundesliga relegated 1. FC kaiserslautern did it on 13. However, the team did not fare any better on match day and slipped from second to third place after a disappointing 1-1 draw in paderborn.
In the basement, MSV duisburg lost last place for the first time since the start of the season more than three months ago. At 1. FC koln only managed a goalless draw despite being shorthanded for 70 minutes. "This was an important sign of life for us and also for the fans," said sports director ivica grlic. Sandhausen now bottom of the league, but only because of slightly worse goal difference.
Jahn regensburg also conceded a defeat under its new coach franz gerber – it was the fifth in a row. In the bavarian derby at the ambitious FC ingolstadt it set a 2:4. On monday, the FC st. Pauli and vfl bochum the matchday.
Braunschweig is still undefeated – but aue was close to a surprise. Despite eintracht’s opening goal, the 1-1 draw was "more than deserved for aue in the end," coach torsten lieberknecht had to admit. "We have to put this behind us quickly," he demanded. In the away duel, hertha not only enjoyed the highest away win in the league, but also an "impressive game," as coach luhukay put it. The capital club’s declared goal is to catch braunschweig by christmas.
Cottbus also in the thick of the promotion race. The lausitzers beat dresden 2-0 in the eastern derby and closed the gap on kaiserslautern in terms of points scored. Dennis sorensen (7. Minute of play) and ivica banovic (31./foulefmeter) ensured an unexpected success. FSV frankfurt could not keep pace with cottbus, which lost 0:1 to 1860 munchen. Original "lowe" benjamin lauth scored the TSV victory in the 36th minute. Minute to victory.
In the bavarian derby, regensburg coach franz gerber was allowed to hope for a perfect debut for around half an hour before ingolstadt’s stefan leitl (48.) and manuel schaffler (69.) the jahn lead by ramon machado (17.) turned. Abdenour amachaibou (80 minutes) scored a goal to make it 2:2.) love christian eigler (85./handelfmeter) and the brazilian caiuby two more FCI goals follow. Ingolstadt improved to fifth place, gerber complained about the referee: "he gives a penalty that isn’t a penalty. This is how you get on the losing streak. A draw would have been fair."
Things continue to go rather bumpily in koln. The 0:0 against duisburg was of course far too little for the rhineland’s rough demands, only one home win from seven games and twelfth place in the table are indications of a pretty messed up season so far. "The standings don’t look," scolded a visibly perplexed coach holger stanislawski. "It’s like we didn’t get the points. Then you’re right to be where you are," he said.