FC Schalke won the top game at Easter spectacularly 5-2 (3-2) at Darmstadt 98 and consolidated their lead in the second division. Chaser SV Werder Bremen, on the other hand, only drew 1-1 (0-1) against 1. FC Nürnberg. Bremen (54 points) are two points behind Schalke in second place.
Meanwhile, FC St. Pauli (53), who played 1-1 at SV Sandhausen on Saturday, is in third place. Behind them lurk Darmstadt (51) and Nuremberg (50) in fourth and fifth place. Hamburger SV, who defeated Karlsruher SC 3-0 on Holy Saturday, are five points away from their city rivals from St. Pauli.
The relegation of FC Ingolstadt is as good as sealed
In Darmstadt, the strikers were Schalke’s guarantee of victory. First Simon Terodde scored a brace with his goals 23 and 24 (14th/29th minute), then Marius Bülter followed up with his goals eight to ten (43rd/48th/62nd). Phillip Tietz also scored twice for Darmstadt (11th/34th). Mitchell Weiser (65′) equalized for Werder four minutes after he was substituted on after Nikola Dovedan (24′) scored the opening goal for the Franks with a penalty kick. Lino Tempelmann had previously been brought down by Milos Veljkovic.
FC Ingolstadt’s relegation is as good as sealed after this weekend. In the home game against SC Paderborn, the Schanzer lost 0:1 (0:0). With 19 points, Ingolstadt slipped to last place in the table and is ten points behind Dynamo Dresden in relegation rank 16. Erzgebirge Aue kept the hope of remaining in the league alive with a 2-0 (0-0) win at 1. FC Heidenheim and reduced the gap to Dynamo to seven points.
Hansa Rostock missed what was probably the last step to staying safe in the class. In the first game after the death of club legend Joachim Streich, the Rostock team only managed to draw 1-1 (1-0) against Jahn Regensburg and remained in twelfth place in the table.