Second division comeback: Kaiserslautern beats Hannover

Created: 07/15/2022Updated: 07/15/2022 10:59 p.m

Kaiserslautern's team celebrates the goal for the final score of 2:1.

© Uwe Anspach/dpa

In an emotional game, newly promoted 1. FC Kaiserslautern secured a late win against Hannover at the start of the 2nd Bundesliga.

The jubilation on the Betzenberg is correspondingly large.

Kaiserslautern - With heart and passion, 1. FC Kaiserslautern celebrated a fantastic comeback in the second division after four years and thoroughly spoiled the start of the season for Hannover 96.

On Friday evening, the Red Devils won the season opening game of the 2nd Bundesliga 2-1 (1-0) against Lower Saxony, who were traded as promotion contenders.

"We are committed to this game with every fiber of our being and absolutely wanted to prove that we can keep up in the second division.

It was brilliant how the team implemented that,” praised FCK trainer Dirk Schuster.

In front of 40,579 spectators in the Fritz-Walter-Stadion, Mike Wunderlich put the home side ahead in the 11th minute, which substitute Havard Nielsen (80th) equalized.

Kevin Kraus (90+2) turned the Betzenberg into a madhouse with his late winning goal.

“We showed a brutal passion.

It's all the better that we were able to score the winning goal shortly before the end.

That was a perfect start,” said Wunderlich.

Right from the start, the Palatinate relied on fight and passion, which Hanover didn't like for a long time.

The guests had a lot more possession of the ball, but only showed a goal threat in the second half and made a few mistakes on the defensive.

This was also the case with FCK's opening goal, which 96 defender Julian Börner involuntarily initiated with an unsuccessful back pass to goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler.

Terrence Boyd splashed in between and served Wunderlich, who pointed the ball into the empty goal.

At the age of 36 years and 112 days, the veteran replaced Wolfgang Funkel as the Red Devils' oldest league goalscorer.

In an intense game, both sides made their first change after less than half an hour.

At FCK, newcomer Ben Zolinski, who had been acting conspicuously up to that point, had to leave the field injured and Kenny Prince Redondo came on for him.

Gael Ondoua ended early at Hannover after the midfielder walked on the verge of being sent off.

He was replaced by Fabian Kunze.

Nothing has changed in the course of the game for the time being.

The hosts let the Lower Saxony come, but had the better chances.

Zieler was only able to fend off a long-range shot from Redondo with difficulty.

FCK keeper Andreas Luthe, on the other hand, was only tested for the first time after an hour.

The veteran, who was brought in from Union Berlin in the summer, proved to be a reliable backup in the following pressure phase of the guests and prevented a possible equalizer with a brilliant save from a free kick by Sebastian Kerk fifteen minutes before the end, which he was no longer able to prevent a little later.

After preliminary work by Cedric Teuchert, Nielsen scored from eight meters.

In the end, however, the hosts cheered when Kraus switched the fastest after a corner kick and overcame Zieler with a direct shot.

dpa