2. Bundesliga: Wondergoals lift Karlsruhe off bottom spot as Heidenheim’s winless run stretches to five

Karlsruhe ended a two-game losing streak with a hard-fought win over promotion hopefuls Heidenheim on Saturday night. The hosts responded after last week's 6-1 defeat to Magdeburg, while Frank Schmidt's men are now winless in five games.

Gladbach loanee Shio Fukuda saw his second minute goal nullified by VAR for an offside, but Karlsruhe still found an early strike. Albanian midfielder Tim Civeja scored his first goal for the club with a solo effort after excellent play from the goalkeeper Hans Christian Bernat and the captain Marvin Wanitzek.

Schmidt responded with two changes for the second-half as Heidenheim desperate to avoid a fifth game without a win. Despite a better start from last season's Bundesliga club, the relegation-battling hosts regained momentum almost immediately. 

Wantizek seemed to seal the three points with a brilliant free-kick ten minutes from time, but half-time substitute Alessandro Vogt's header made it a nervy ending for the hosts. However, Maximilian Senft's men held on to their slender lead to secure back-to-back home wins after Christopher Kobald's important injury-time block.

Karlsruhe extended their unbeaten home record against Heidenheim to five games as they suddenly climbed to 11th after starting the Topspiel in bottom place. Heidenheim remain in sixth place as they're still only four points behind the automatic promotion spot.