At the start of the second half of the second Bundesliga season, Hamburger SV did its duty with difficulty.

With the 4:2 (2:1) against Eintracht from Braunschweig, threatened with relegation, the team of coach Tim Walter left no doubt about their ambitions on Sunday, but after a strong initial phase they still got themselves into trouble.

Goalscorer Robert Glatzel (3rd) and Moritz Heyer (17th) gave their team an early lead.

Fabio Kaufmann (30') scored the goal for the guests before the break with a wonderful shot.

Glatzel (49th) restored the old gap shortly after the break with his 13th goal of the season.

Braunschweig's Danilo Wiebe (81st) made it exciting again seconds after he was substituted on.

Ludovit Reis (90th) removed all HSV doubts late.

Thanks to the success, Hamburg regained second place in the table from 1. FC Heidenheim, who had defeated Hansa Rostock on Saturday.

HSV coach Walter had not called any of his three winter additions to the starting eleven in the first competitive game in 2023.

He trusted the previous staff and was not initially disappointed.

In front of 56,507 spectators in the almost sold-out Volksparkstadion, the hosts combined and played as they wished in the first half hour.

Spurred on by Kaufmann's connection goal, Eintracht became more equal and HSV lost its rhythm.

But Braunschweig didn't give up and kept coming back for the HSV goal and were rewarded with Wiebe.

Sandhausen WINS in Bielefeld

Meanwhile, SV Sandhausen managed an important away win in the relegation battle.

Coach Alois Schwarz's team surprisingly won the basement duel against fellow competitor Arminia Bielefeld 2-1 (2-1) at the start of the second half of the season.

After the first away win of the season, Sandhausen is no longer bottom of the league, but climbed up to twelfth place in the table.

However, it is only two points ahead of the relegation place.

Before the day of the game, Bielefeld was still there, but after their eleventh defeat they are now penultimate in the table.

Christian Kinsombi (13th minute) took the lead for the guests after a back-heel assist from his older brother David Kinsombi.

Alexander Esswein (33rd) made it 2-0 in front of 18,300 spectators before Andres Andrade (45th + 1 minute) scored the goal before the break whistle.

With a much more offensive setup and attitude, the hosts pushed for an equalizer after the break.

The action of the game shifted almost completely to Sandhausen's half, but most of Bielefeld's attacking efforts failed due to the opponent's good defence.

And the Bielefeld team lacked the creative ideas and the individual class to still achieve the equalizer.

With the successful debut of U-30 coach Fabian Hürzeler, FC St. Pauli got off to a great start in the new second division year.

The Hamburgers won 1-0 (1-0) at 1. FC Nürnberg on Sunday in front of 30,871 spectators.

With the first away win of the current series, the Kiezkicker climbed to tenth place.

As expected, Hürzeler called up Estonian new signing Karol Mets in central defense from the start, while attackers Maurides and Oladapo Afolayan initially took a seat on the bench.

Clearer Eric Smith was absent due to illness and was replaced by Jakov Medic.

Hamburg's first real goal was right away.

After a corner, Leart Pacarada crossed to Medic (33rd minute), who headed in from a few yards out.

Fabian Nürnberger had stood too far away from the Pauli defender who had moved up.

With a successful home start, Weinzierl wanted to turn “the pessimism around the team and the club” into optimism.

The results did not succeed, but the Nuremberg company showed promising approaches and developed pressure phases again and again.

However, the Franconians around the strong debutant Flick were not able to shed their weakness in the end when the first emergency occurred in 2023.

Jan Gyamerah (38'), Lino Tempelmann (45'+2') or Kwadwo Duah (75') lacked precision.

Hürzeler, the youngest coach in the first two professional leagues, was able to celebrate.