3:2 - HSV wins and reaches play-offs

... and emotional victory

After the change of ends, however, HSV's attacking department got into gear much better. The attack was more effective, there was more movement on the flanks - and it was successful: Glatzel, in his 34th league match, underlined his enormous heading strength and scoring power and scored the extremely important 1:1 equaliser only five minutes after the restart. Now, of course, the Rothosen were on fire, because now it was clear: one more goal would be enough to secure the relegation place and with it the chance of making it into the Bundesliga.

So a duel developed with open sights on both sides - and with top chances on both sides. Heuer Fernandes made an outstanding save against Ingelsson, Kittel just missed the 2:1, so it went back and forth in this game, which not only lived from its suspense, but was also a gripping duel between two very offensively active teams. And in this duel, the Red shorts managed to step up their game in the decisive phase and go one better. The pressure from Hamburg grew stronger and stronger - and resulted in the important 2:1 through the captain: Schonlau did it with his head a quarter of an hour before the end and thus set the tone for victory. A victory that Walter's team had to fight hard for, especially since Rostock did not give up even after Kaufmann's 1:3 and came back to 2:3 in the final minute through Fröde. However, HSV survived the final seconds unscathed and, after a great comeback with five victories in a row, were able to celebrate their third place and the Bundesliga relegation.