In the opening matches of Week 5 of the 2. Bundesliga on Friday evening, both SV Darmstadt 98 and 1. FC Nürnberg managed home victories, winning 2-1 in each fixture. Darmstadt secured three points for the first time this season after defeating Arminia Bielefeld, while Nürnberg beat Hannover 96.
At Merck-Stadion am Böllenfalltor, Darmstadt took an early lead. Ho-jae Lee scored the opener in the 3rd minute, putting the hosts 1-0 up. From there, Darmstadt adopted a more defensive posture. Although Bielefeld maintained significantly more possession, they struggled to create clear scoring opportunities before the break.
The momentum shifted in the 59th minute when Marius Wörl equalized. He struck a low, hard shot from about 20 meters out into the left corner. The goal was validated by the video assistant, though Italian player Milan Smit had missed a chance to make it 2-0 shortly before that.
As the match entered its final phase, both goalkeepers performed well for their respective teams: Kersken held firm against Weißhaupt, and Darmstadt’s Marcel Schuhen defended against Joel Grodowski. The deciding moment arrived late when a corner kick led to a header from Lührs being deflected onto the outstretched arm of substitute Leon Jensen. Referee Eric Weisbach awarded a hand-ball penalty, which Smit converted in the 86th minute to make it 2-1.
In the Max-Morlock-Stadion, the scoring began quickly. Hannover made two successive defensive errors in their own penalty area, and Julian Justvan capitalized on the second to put Nürnberg ahead in the 5th minute. Bauer leveled the score just three minutes later in the 8th minute via a penalty, following a cross stopped with the arm by Javier Fernandez. Hartel managed to hit the woodwork for Hannover in the 20th minute.
During the second half, the hosts regained control of the game. Peter Scobel first hit the post with a header. The breakthrough for Nürnberg came in the 65th minute when Mohamed Ali Zoma headed home the decisive 2-1 goal.
