Invincible Hannover, Fürth win nine-goal thriller, Schalke leave it late again

Hannover have won each of their first four league games of the season. Fürth, Kaiserslautern and Schalke picked up three points on Sunday.

Hannover maintained their perfect record at the season start with a narrow win in Kiel on Saturday. Meanwhile, there were drama aplenty in the three 2. Bundesliga fixtures on Sunday. 

Hannover keep flying, Bochum in relegation zone

Until the hour mark, Holstein Kiel looked to end Hannover’s winning streak, but Christian Titz’s side came from a goal behind to win 2-1 at the home of last season’s Bundesliga club. Captain Enzo Leopald registered both assists, including the winner from the new signing Benjamin Källman. The Finnish striker scored in each of the last three games coming off the bench.

Bochum started the season with similar goals to Hannover, but they suffered their third defeat of the season on Saturday. Joshua Mees, who played Bundesliga football in Union Berlin’s maiden season in the league, scored both of Preußen Münster’s goals in a 2-1 win at the Vonovia Ruhrstadion.

The other two Saturday fixtures ended in stalemates. In front of 51,000 fans, Fortuna Düsseldorf failed to build on their good momentum as they drew goalless with Karlsruher SC. Meanwhile, Eintracht Braunschweig and Arminia Bielefeld are now on seven points after a 1-1 draw between the sides at the EINTRACHT-Stadion.

Fürth, Kaiserslautern and Schalke prevail

An early contender for the “Game of the Season” was played in Magdeburg on Sunday. Despite losing their talismanic striker Martijn Kaars to St. Pauli, the hosts did score four goals. And, surprisingly, half of those came after they were reduced to ten-man to tie the game 4-4 against Greuther Fürth.

However, moments after squandering a great chance, Fürth netted the winner in the 99th minute thanks to Marco John, who was coming on for his first minutes of the season in injury-time. Felix Klaus and Noel Futkeu shared the other goals for the visitors as they lead the scoring chart alongside Darmstadt’s Isac Lidberg with four from four.

There was also a late drama in Dresden as Schalke collected their first points on the road. Miron Muslic’s side won it courtesy of Kenan Karaman’s 84th-minute penalty-kick against the resilient Dynamo Dresden. The captain’s return to full fitness proved vital for Schalke’s unexpected promotion surge.

Meanwhile, Lidberg’s fourth goal of the season didn’t save Darmstadt from a heartbreaking defeat in Kaiserslautern. Florian Kohfeldt’s side was in front until the 84th minute, but they ended up losing the tense encounter 3-1. Faride Alidou scored the all-important second at the start of injury-time after assisting Naatan Skyttä’s equalizer. Former Dortmund youngster Tobias Raschl puts the cherry on the cake on his 50th appearance for the club.