Fortuna Düsseldorf missed a good chance to make contact with the promotion places in the 2nd Bundesliga on matchday 22 at Karlsruher SC. Fortuna gave up a lead twice on Saturday evening (February 17, 2024) and had to settle for a 2-2 draw in the end.
Christos Tzolis, match winner in the cup quarter-finals in Sankt Pauli, gave Düsseldorf a 1-0 half-time lead in the 37th minute.
After the equalizer through Jerome Gondorf’s header (48′), it was Tzolis again who put Fortuna back in the lead with the subsequent attack (51′).
Expensive mistake from Fortuna keeper Kastenmeier
But a mistake by keeper Florian Kastenmeier, who let a shot from David Herold slip through (63′), ended up costing Düsseldorf two important points in the promotion race.
“If you mess up, you have to own up to it. We don’t need to talk around it, it’s a clear goalkeeping mistake“said Fortuna’s keeper after the final whistle to “Sky”. “I’m sorry for the team and the fans.”
Düsseldorf is still five points behind Relegation place
The cup semi-finalists remained winless in the fifth league game of the year – and were also unable to use the template from HSV, who played a draw in Rostock. With 33 points, Fortuna, seventh in the table, is now five points behind the relegation place. We are now nine points behind the direct promotion spot. Karlsruhe (29 points) climbed to ninth place with the draw.
In an entertaining encounter in front of 26,563 fans, both teams initially tried to control the game. Just as the hosts were putting more pressure on, Fortuna struck – Tzolis scored with a header from close range. Throwing cups at Rhinelander professionals briefly caused excitement before the break.
After the break it went back and forth. First Gondorf headed in, Tzolis responded with his eleventh goal of the season. Then Kastenmeier helped decisively to equalize again: Fortuna’s goalkeeper missed a seemingly harmless long-range shot from Herold – in the end, Fortuna was even lucky when Marvin Wanitzek missed the possible chance of victory for the KSC in stoppage time.
KSC travels to Betzenberg
On matchday 23, KSC travels to 1. FC Kaiserslautern (Saturday, 1 p.m.), Düsseldorf welcomes Hansa Rostock on Sunday (1:30 p.m.).
