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Hamburg (AP) - Shortly before the explosive Hamburg city derby, the promotion favorite HSV came under enormous pressure in the 2nd Bundesliga.

Since VfL Bochum and Holstein Kiel (both 45 points) were able to win their home games on Saturday and Greuther Fürth (43) won 2-2 at Hannover 96, HSV (42) have to start from fourth place on Monday (8.30 p.m. / Sky) at FC St. Pauli in order to remain promising in the fight for the Bundesliga return.

That's why St. Pauli's coach Timo Schultz also sees the pressure from the big city rivals: "HSV is more in the situation where they absolutely have to win the derby in order to be promoted."

This is due to the strong Bochumers, who seized the opportunity and left nothing to burn in the 3-0 win against the bottom Würzburger Kickers - unlike HSV in the previous week (2: 3).

Robert Zulj (21st), Danny Blum (62nd) and Gerrit Holtmann (81st) scored the goals in the sovereign mandatory victory, which could have been even higher.

"We knew that Würzburg would come here highly motivated after the Big Points," said goal scorer Blum.

"But I think you noticed that we all really wanted to play good football today and that was shown in our performance."

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The fact that the top four will meet next weekend when Bochum competes in Fürth and Kiel in Hamburg makes the whole thing even more exciting.

Because even outsiders KSV Holstein cannot be shaken off.

In the 1-0 win over Erzgebirge Aue, the Kielers needed a penalty kick, which Alexander Mühling (81st) converted to victory and a little luck with two Auer goals that were disallowed by the video assistant, as Captain Hauke ​​Wahl admitted.

"But these are those disgusting games that you shouldn't lose," said the central defender.

Fürth's coach Stefan Leitl was disappointed after the draw in Hanover, which Havard Nielsen (68th) and Dickson Abiama (76th) secured with their goals after being twice behind.

"We lost two points," said Leitl angrily.

The small setback should be corrected quickly.

"We will also try to beat Bochum," announced sports director Rachid Azzouzi, who, unlike his coach, speaks openly of the promotion.

«The way we play, we're rightly up there.

We don't defend ourselves against anything, ”said Azzouzi.

The team is “hungry and greedy for success”, and a second Bundesliga year would be a blessing during Corona times, as Azzouzi emphasized.

"A promotion would help our club enormously."

Karlsruher SC (39 points) can also hope for a return to the first division thanks to the 1-0 win at Darmstadt 98.

For the lilies (25), however, after the sobering record of two wins, one draw and seven defeats this year, more and more relegation battle is announced.

This is especially true for the Würzburger Kickers (15), who are already slightly beaten as bottom of the table.

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© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210228-99-627449 / 2

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