2. Bundesliga: Darmstadt climb to second with win over Nürnberg

Darmstadt beat Nürnberg with a stellar second-half performance in their first home game of the new year.

Florian Kohfeldt’s Darmstadt climbed to second place in the 2. Bundesliga before Elversberg and Paderborn play their respective games on matchday 19. The Lilies got the better of Nürnberg thanks to two unanswered second-half goals.

Miroslav Klose could only watch from the stands, but his Nürnberg side fashioned the best chances in an entertaining first-half at Böllenfalltor Stadium. 18-year-old Eric Porstner replaced the ever-present Berkay Yilmaz at left-back, and he nearly scored his first goal before Julian Justvan was thwarted by Marcel Schuhen in Darmstadt’s goal.

The hosts improved after the break as they significantly reduced Nürnberg’s chances. And they scored the opener themselves at the hour mark when the visitors failed to clear their lines from a set-piece opportunity.

Hiroki Akiyama scored his third goal of the season with a thunderous shot after Fabio Gruber’s poor clearance. Darmstadt’s second goal came from Nürnberg’s own corner-kick as Justvan lacked the defensive nuance to stop the relentless Luca Marseiler from an enthralling counterattack.  

In a complete contrast to the first 45 minutes, the hosts were thoroughly dominant after the break. Fraser Hornby was unable to add to his five goals with two decent saves from Jan Reichert denying the striker. Darmstadt will travel to Kaiserslautern next week, while Nürnberg will hope to return to winning ways at home against relegation-threatened Preußen Münster.