Cologne went into Matchday 31 looking to put themselves on the brink of promotion but instead met stubborn resistance against a Hannover side looking to remain in the promotion hunt. And it was the hosts who came away with all three points in an impressive performance, making the most of Leart Paqarada’s second-half red card to put themselves within four points of the top-three. Lars Gindorf was the match-winner, setting up a thrilling final three weeks in the race for promotion.

Hamburg 1-2 Karlsruhe
Goals: 0-1 Ben Farhat 30 ', 1-1 Selke 42 'Pen., 1-2 Wannitz 45 '+ 3

Hamburg’s promotion push hit another snag on Sunday as they fell to a spirited Karlsruhe side. Although the Red Shorts’ Davie Selke struck form the spot to cancel out Louey Ben Farhat’s opener, in-form KSC midfielder Marvin Wanitzek struck for a second match in a row to give the visitors an edge that they defended to the final whistle. Despite the loss, Hamburg sit tight in second place, while Karlsruhe jump to eighth, just three points shy of Magdeburg in the promotion play-off spot.

Kaiserslautern 2-1 Schalke
Goals: 1-0 Yokota 35', 1-1 Sylla 61 ', 2-1 Ache 77′

Torsten Lieberknecht earned victory on his Kaiserslauter debut as the hosts revived their promotion hopes on Sunday. Lautern were first rewarded for their dominance when Daisuke Yokota thumped home 10 minutes before the break. Schalke improved after the interval, though, and were level on the hour mark thanks to Moussa Sylla’s 16th goal of the season. The hosts thought they had regained the lead through Ragnar Ache but his 72nd-minute effort was chalked off for offside. Ache wouldn’t be denied, however, restoring his team’s advantage five minutes later to put them within a point of the top-three.

Greuther Fürth 0-1 Ulm
Goals: 0-1 Crate Macher 62 '

Fürth missed a big opportunity to pull away from Friday evening’s opponents in the relegation play-off spot. Maurice Krattenmacher scored the only goal of the game with a long-range strike that sealed a crucial three points for Ulm, who are now just four points behind 15th placed Eintracht Braunschweig ahead of their fixture against Jahn Regensburg.

It was an entertaining affair at the Olympiastadion, with Magdeburg eager for more points in their promotion tilt, and Hertha aiming to extend their unbeaten run to six games. That streak looked in doubt when Lubambo Musonda’s deflected strike hit the back of the net, but the hosts reacted quickly through Linus Gechter, who showed why the capital club have been so difficult to beat of late when he equalised just a minute later.

Paderborn 1-1 Elversberg
Goals: 1-0 Bilbia (56 '), 1-1 The rush (90+4)

For much of the game, this top of the table clash failed to live up to expectations with the first half being a particularly drab affair. In the second half, Paderborn came out with more intent and took the lead after Filip Bilbija flicked on Raphael Obermair’s strike for the opener. The hosts then looked in control right up until the last minute when Florian Le Joncour hit a deflected strike to equalise with the last kick of the game. That goal means everything is as it was at the top with neither side able to capitalise on Magdeburg’s draw yesterday.

Jahn Regensburg 1-1 Eintracht Braunschweig
Goals: 1-0 Brick (4 '), 1-1 Nikolaou (6 ')

In the end, this bottom of the table clash was decided inside the opening six minutes. Firstly, Robin Ziegele pounced on a loose ball after a set-piece to open the scoring after just four minutes for Regensburg, only for Jannis Nikolaou to do the same thing two minutes later at the other end. Regensburg were on top for most of the remainder of the game but could never find the breakthrough and in the end, both sides were forced to settle for the point. A point that does a lot more for Braunshweig’s hopes of survival than Regensburg’s.

Preussen Münster 1-1 Darmstadt
Goals: 0-1 Marseiler 45+1’, 1-1 Man 62 '

A match that never really looked like sparking into life ended with a share of the spoils, as Joshua Mees’ second-half strike – his eighth of the season – rescued a point for strugglers Münster. The home side had more shots and the better chances overall, and will be hugely disappointed not to bag all three points and climb up to 16th. As it stands, they remain in the relegation zone, level on points with Ulm, just above them. Darmstadt are safe from danger.

Fortuna Düsseldorf 3-3 Nuremberg
Goals: 0-1 Antiste 19 ', 0-2 45 '+4, 3-0 Justin 61′, 3-1 Schmidt 68′, 3-2 Schmidt 71′, 3-3 APPER CAMP 78 '

Miroslav Klose’s Nuremberg looked to have this match stitched up when Julian Justvan made it 3-0 just after the hour mark, but it was not to be as Danny Schmidt came off the bench to hit a quick-fire double before fellow entrant Shinta Appelkamp levelled it up with a pile-driver from 25 metres out. An impressive fight-back from Fortuna after Nuremberg’s razor-sharp first half, but in the end the draw left the teams where they were – in sixth and eighth respectively.

Watch: The top 5 goals from Matchday 30

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