Second division soccer team SV Darmstadt 98 celebrated its first win in the second game of the season.

Fourth in the table last season won 2-1 (1-1) against SV Sandhausen on Friday evening and thus showed the reaction required by coach Torsten Lieberknecht to the defeat at the start of the season in Regensburg.

In front of 13,620 spectators in the sold-out Böllenfalltor stadium, Braydon Manu (9th) and Marvin Mehlem (55th) scored the goals for the Hessians.

Aleksandr Zhirov (24th) scored for Sandhausen to equalize in the meantime.

The home side set the tone from the start.

Manu used the second good opportunity with a shot from the left side of the penalty area into the top right corner for an early lead.

In the middle of the first half, Zhirov scored a surprising equalizer for the Palatinate from a free kick with a well-placed shot in the right corner.

Before the break, the more active Darmstadt players were lucky that a shot by Janik Bachmann (38th) from six meters was too unplaced.

After the change, Mehlem put the Hessians back in the lead after a remarkable one-two with Manu.

In the last half hour, the game became more divided.

The toughness of the duel increased, and there were hardly any dangerous situations.

Offensive exchange of blows from Düsseldorf

Meanwhile, Fortuna Düsseldorf, aspiring to promotion, has stormed to the top of the table in the 2nd Bundesliga.

Coach Daniel Thioune's team prevailed 2-1 (2-1) in an offensive exchange of blows with SC Paderborn on Friday and made the perfect start with six points from two games.

Pole Dawid Kownacki (2nd) gave Fortuna an early lead in front of 22,634 spectators, Felix Platte (21st) equalized for East Westphalia.

Scorer Rouwen Hennings (30th) shot the hosts to victory with his second goal of the season.

Both coaches did not change their starting formation after the successful start of the season.

Paderborn, first leaders of the new season after beating Karlsruher SC 5-0 last week, missed a good chance to take the lead after just a few seconds through newcomer Sirlord Conteh and got the cold shower: Kownacki scored ice-cold after work from Shinta Appelkamp.

Both teams then acted with open visors, Hennings countered Platte's equalizer from close range.

After the change of sides, the game flattened out a bit, Düsseldorf concentrated on counterattacking and brought the home win over time.