Julian Green and Timothy Tillman scored their first goals for Greuther Furth while Terrence Boyd provided the assist on a goal for Kaiserslautern as the 2. Bundesliga season got off to an early start.
Greuther Furth 2-2 Holstein Kiel
Greuther Furth mounted a comeback from a goal down, but Holstein Kiel was able to steal a point following a second-half penalty as both sides settled for the draw at Sportpark Ronhof Thomas Sommer.
Both Julian Green and Timothy Tillman started for the Cloverleaves, with the former completing 95 percent of his passes and winning three duels in his 65 minutes on the field. Tillman would go the distance as he completed 71 percent of his passes and won 10 duels on the day.
The contest started with few chances from both sides, but Kiel would break the scoreless deadlock in the 29th minute when Timo Becker volleyed home a cross from Fabian Reese in the 12-yard box.
After last season’s struggles in the Bundesliga, it seemed like Greuther Furth was going to start their second division campaign in the same manner. However, Green would give them a spark of inspiration just minutes into the second half as he scored the equalizer. Branimir Hrgota dribbled the ball past three Kiel players before crossing it to the center. The ball took a fortunate deflection into the path of a wide-open Green and he fired his shot into the back of the net.
Tillman then gave the host the lead in the 76th minute when he received a pass from Simon Asta in the area and cut to the left to give him space to blast his shot past goalkeeper Thomas Dahne.
The momentum had shifted in the favor of Furth, but they only had to blame themselves in the latter stages of the game when the referee pointed to the spot for a penalty. Asta was the guilty party as he brought down Benedikt Pichler as the Austrian had a scoring opportunity. Alexander Muhling then stepped up to convert the spot-kick and ensure that Kiel claimed a point in the end.
Kaiserslautern 2-1 Hannover
Kaiserslautern started their 2. Bundesliga campaign off in thrilling fashion as a stoppage-time goal helped them to the win over Hannover at the Fritz Walter Stadion.
Terrence Boyd started and played 66 minutes for the Red Devils, winning six duels and taking one shot.
The host opened the scoring after 11 minutes when Boyd forced Hannover’s Julian Borner to turnover the ball, allowing the striker to take possession and pass it to Mike Wunderlich to steer home.
Kaiserslautern would hold on to that lead for a large portion of the game, but the visitors leveled the score in the 80th minute when Havard Nielsen pounced on a deflected pass in the area to slam past goalkeeper Andreas Luthe.
With the game in stoppage time, it looked like both sides would settle for a point. However, the host would have the final say in the result when they pinged the ball around the area following a corner kick. Kenny Redondo’s overhead kick found Kevin Kraus on the edge of the six-yard box as he guided the ball into the goal.
Notes
Ryan Malone played the full 90 minutes for Hansa Rostock while Lennard Maloney came off the bench in the first half to make his debut for Heidenheim in the latter’s 1-0 win at the Ostee Stadion.
George Bello came on to play the final 18 minutes for Arminia Bielefeld in their 2-1 defeat to Sandhausen.