The battle for promotion in the second Bundesliga is getting tighter and tighter.

The gap between first and fourth place is just a single point.

The 2:2 (1:1) at Hannover 96 on Sunday caused Darmstadt 98 (40 points) to fall from the top of the table to fourth place.

The Darmstadt team, who had to do without their coach Torsten Lieberknecht, who was again ill with Corona, are not in one of the top three places in the table for the first time in eight games.

FC Schalke 04 lost the connection. The fifth-placed team surprisingly lost 1-2 (1-0) to the sixteenth-placed Fortuna Düsseldorf, where new coach Daniel Thioune celebrated a perfect start.

For Düsseldorf, after the first win in almost two months, the non-relegation region is within reach again.

Opponents Schalke are still involved in the battle for promotion with 37 points, but they have to hope for the blunders of at least two competitors in the final sprint.

It is completely uncertain which duo will be able to celebrate promotion to the Bundesliga on May 15th.

Werder Bremen (41) have made the best impression for weeks.

Coach Ole Werner's team wins and wins and wins, on Friday evening 2-1 at FC Hansa Rostock for the seventh time in a row.

"That's a tough performance," said goal scorer Niclas Füllkrug.

The reward: second place in the table – behind FC St. Pauli.

On the 22nd match day, the Hamburgers again thought about the obligation to win in the promotion hunt.

After five previous games without a threesome, the Kiezclub got back into the top position on Saturday evening with a 3:2 win at Jahn Regensburg.

Local rivals Hamburger SV (40) have been on the right track for weeks and have moved up from mid-table to third place.

Less nervous jitters

HSV's 2-0 win on Saturday against 1. FC Heidenheim, who had equal points up to that point, was the third success in a row and gives us confidence.

In the fourth year of the second division, the nervous fluttering should be put down on the home stretch and not end with the current third place in the table.

The HSV chest is particularly wide because the successes were achieved in three top duels in a row: St. Pauli (2:1), at Darmstadt 98 (5:0) and against Heidenheim.

Darmstadt and Schalke were left behind after the 22nd matchday.

1. FC Nürnberg (33 points) seems to be out of the running for the return to the Bundesliga for the time being, for which a week after the 0:5 against FC Ingolstadt on Saturday it was 1:4 (1:1) at Karlsruher SC.

Paderborn, who are weak at home (32 points), gambled away better prospects in the top battle with a 0-0 draw against Dynamo Dresden.

For promoted Dresden it was an important point in the relegation battle.

Dresden's competitors such as FC Erzgebirge Aue (2:3 against Holstein Kiel) and Rostock (1:2 against Bremen) could not score, and the basement duel between bottom of the table Ingolstadt and SV Sandhausen remained 0:0 without a winner.