Five-star Bielefeld stun ten-man Fortuna

Newly-promoted Arminia Bielefeld beat Fortuna Düsseldorf 5-1 in 2. Bundesliga’s Topspiel.

The visitors started the game the better side, but Bielefeld quickly found their feet to dominate possession. However, there was no big chance at either end before a moment of magic by Christian Rasmussen.

The former Ajax winger hit both the crossbar and post with a superb strike after reaching Sotiris Alexandropoulos’ through pass. A few minutes later, the Danish left-footer registered his first 2. Bundesliga goal involvement.

He played a timely pass to Cedric Itten, another new signing, who did the rest by scoring a well-taken goal. Bielefeld pushed for an instant response as Joel Grodowski beat highly-rated center-back Jamil Siebert in a physical tussle before hitting the side netting.

But it was Siebert’s partner in defense who made the biggest mistake from Fortuna. Tim Oberdorf’s red card at the stroke of half-time proved costly as Bielefeld quickly levelled the score. Noah Sarenren Bazee concluded his decent half by providing the decisive touch to send home Mael Corboz’s cutback.

Fortuna fans thought they were hard done by the decision to give Oberdorf a second booking, and there was more frustration awaiting them after the break. The referee gave a penalty-kick for a questionable handball call.

Half-time substitute Julian Kania scored from the spot with a calm finish. Fortuna had a great chance for an equalizer when Matthias Zimmermann attempted a delightful chip, but Stefano Russo cleared the ball.

With the extra player advantage, Bielefeld had a strong finish to the game. Joel Felix scored with a bullet header from Tim Handwerker‘s corner-kick. A couple of minutes later, it’s 4-1.

Felix was instrumental once again as Grodowski got the final touch after Kenneth Schmidt cleared his attempt on the goal line. Jonas Kersken made a fine save from Tim Rossmann’s attempt to keep the three-goal lead.

With ten minutes added on, Christopher Lenz scored a brilliant goal, but it was after the referee’s whistle. Instead, Sam Schreck became the third player to score as a substitute with a fine finish. The result meant all the first six 2. Bundesliga games ended with wins for the home teams.