2. Bundesliga Saturday Review

Elversberg, Paderborn and Karslruhe maintained their top five places with home wins before Fortuna Düsseldorf won the Topspiel in Bochum.

Holstein Kiel were heading into a goalless draw at high-flying Elversberg before Bambasé Conté won an injury-time penalty-kick. Hamburger SV loanee Otto Stange scored from the resulting spot-kick to secure a fifth win of the season for the overachievers.

Elversberg are still level on points with league leaders Darmstadt after seven games. Kiel suffered their fourth defeat of the campaign as their promotion hopes hit by another blow.

Meanwhile, it was a first-half injury-time VAR decision that was pivotal in the game between Paderborn and Kaiserlautern. Kaiserslautern’s goalkeeper Julian Krahl saved Calvin Brackelmann’s ferocious free-kick, but Maxwell Gyamfi was adjudged to have illegally blocked Steffen Tigges from reaching the rebound.

The double punishment meant Krahl faced a penalty-kick, while Gyamfi was sent off with a straight red card. Filip Bilbija, who scored one of his goals from the spot against Hertha Berlin, missed the penalty-kick, but he made up for it with a tap-in goal in the 50th minute. Three minutes later, Laurin Curda put the game beyond the ten-man Kaiserslautern with a smart finish.

Karlsruhe joined Paderborn by reaching 14 points with a late win over bottom-placed Magdeburg. Christoph Kobald was the owner of the solitary goal as he measured his header for perfection from an inviting free-kick by Karlsruhe’s captain Marvin Wanitzek.

In this week’s Topspiel, Bochum suffered their sixth defeat of the season like Magdeburg. With his side yet to score at home this season, Daniel Thioune was under immense pressure at the helm of Fortuna Düsseldorf before the repeat of the 2023/24 Bundesliga Relegation/Promotion playoff.