2. Bundesliga: Hannover and Karlsruhe share spoils after entertaining clash

Hannover dropped more points at home in 2. Bundesliga as they were held by SC Karlsruher SC on Friday. KSC’s coach Maximilian Senft saw his side produce a combative display away from home on the day he celebrated his 37th birthday.

Hannover started the game positively, but they suffered a blow when Mustapha Bundu had to be substituted off with an injury only after ten minutes. The Sierra Leone international went straight into the dressing room as Husseyn Chakroun took his place.

After his outstanding 3. Liga campaign with Alemannia Aachen, Lars Gindorf is now a key attacking player for Cristian Titz’s side. However, the 25-year-old denied a first goal from open play when Hans Christian Bernat made a great save at the midpoint of the first-half.

Nonetheless, Gindorf did get his goal four minutes later from close range with Hannover’s first corner-kick of the game. The man who scored the winner from the spot against Darmstadt last week put them in front by getting to the end of Boris Tomiak’s dangerous header.

A couple of minutes later, Tomiak was at the center of a goal at the other end. The center-back was dispossessed in the danger zone as Shio Fukuda scored for the second week running.

Hannover regained their lead before half-time as Marcel Hartel, who won promotion to the Bundesliga with all three 2. Bundesliga clubs he played before, got his 30th goal in the division.

Hartel was in the right place to poke home from close range after Kolja Oudenne’s excellent play on the right wing. The same combination nearly got the third almost immediately, but Danyal Zor made a last-ditch clearance on the goalline.

The visitors finished the half strongly as Fukuda nearly capitalized on another blunder before Leo Weinkauf corrected his mistake. Hannover’s goalkeeper had to be alert in the final ten minutes of the first 45, with Louey Ben Farhat showing his qualities in Karlsruhe’s final third.

The Tunisian attacker completed his move to SC Freiburg on deadline day, but he’ll spend another full season in 2. Bundesliga on loan. Meanwhile, Karlsruhe’s captain Marvin Wanitzek had the first big chance after the restart with a speculative effort.

Ben Farhat and Gindorf had the best chances in the first 25 minutes of the second-half. After Weinkauf denied Fukuda, Gindorf then got the ball in the net from a tight angle, but it was disallowed for offside.

With only four minutes left in regular time, 18-year-old Rafael Pinto Pedrosa equalized for Karlsruhe. Nursing an injury that saw him substituted off after his goal, the right-back combined well with Lilian Egloff before launching an unstoppable shot.

Bernat made one more spectacular save to deny Franz Roggow in injury-time as the shot-stopper pushed the free-kick from the substitute to the post. Both teams have only won once from the first four matchdays of the 2. Bundesliga campaign.