SV Darmstadt 98 has secured a brilliant starting position in the fight for promotion to the Bundesliga and shot FC Erzgebirge Aue early into the 3rd division.
The Hessians celebrated a brilliant 6-0 (4-0) victory on Saturday evening and moved up to second place in the table.
The Saxons, on the other hand, have to be relegated from the 2nd Bundesliga after six years.
Before the final two games of the season, the lilies ousted SV Werder Bremen (both 57) with the same number of points from the direct promotion spot thanks to the better goal difference and again gained a three-point cushion over the other rivals Hamburger SV and FC St. Pauli.
In front of 13,850 spectators, Tim Skarke (18th/39th minute), Luca Pfeiffer (16th), Braydon Manu (19th), Mathias Honsak (74th) and Tobias Kempe (90th) scored for the Darmstadt team, who now have good chances have to return to the House of Lords after five years in the second division.
In a one-sided game, the home side dominated from the start and made an early decision with three goals within four minutes.
First up was Pfeiffer, whose shot bounced off the inside post and into the goal.
Then Skarke flicked the ball into the far corner before Manu hammered the leather under the crossbar.
Before the break, Skarke scored the fourth goal against desolate guests after a strong solo by Manu.
Feeling sure of victory, the hosts slowed down a bit in the second round and thus saved themselves a little for the difficult task next Friday at Fortuna Düsseldorf.
In the final phase, Honsak and Kempe increased the result even further.