Fortuna Dusseldorf are definitely a club for the neutrals. They have the moderately cool Die Toten Hosen punk metal band as their celebrity fans and have recovered after years in the doldrums to move into a new stadium. They ended 2011 at the top of the Second Division. 2012 however, has seen the club from the North-Rhine Westphalia region of Germany descend into a worrying slump.
Since returning from the Winter Break, coach Norbert Meier’s team have failed to claim three points in a match. A 1-1 draw at Ingolstadt two weeks ago was followed by the same result against fellow title contenders, Eintracht Frankfurt. The latter result was only achieved by a highly controversial last minute Jens Langeneke, penalty to Fortuna. On Sunday, the slump worsened after a 2-1 defeat to 1860 Munich at the Allianz Arena.
Dusseldorf’s winless run of five games stretches back to the last two games of the Winter Break. That run that has contributed to what promises to be a fiercely contested Bundesliga 2 title and promotion race where three points separate five teams.
Top of the table are Eintracht Frankfurt who hammered their city rivals, FSV Frankfurt 6-2. Algerian international, Karim Matmour scored a hat-trick. In second place are St Pauli. The Hamburg club who were relegated along with Eintracht last season, secured a 1-0 away win at Duisberg thanks to a Fabian Boll strike on 21 minutes. Third placed Greuther Furth only managed a 0-0 draw with Ingolstadt. Fortuna are now fourth and outside the promotion spots.
The final team of the five are Paderborn who are the smallest club of the five and largely considered to be the most likely to drop off as the season builds to a climax. They salvaged a last minute equaliser against Dynamo Dresden. 2-2 was the final score. Matthew Taylor with the last gasp for Paderborn.
At the bottom of the table, Karlsruhe are now three games unbeaten, having previously only won two from their last nineteen games. They beat Energie Cottbus 2-0 at the Wildparkstadion. Another basement dweller on the revival road are Hansa Rostock. The former GDR club had only one in the win column in the entire first half of the season. However, they beat Duisberg 4-2, last week and secured a goalless draw against Aachen on Sunday. While still rock bottom of the table, there are signs of life for the Hanseatic club.
That's it. Results and tables here.
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