Hamburg – VfL Osnabrück is the first to be relegated from the 2nd Bundesliga. The Lower Saxony team lost their home game against FC Schalke 04 0:4 (0:2) in the alternative stadium at Hamburg’s Millerntor. Two game days before the end of the season, VfL’s gap to the relegation place is an uncatchable seven points.
The goals for Gelsenkirchen, who secured their place in the league with the win, were scored by Keke Topp (2nd and 75th minutes), Kenan Karaman (5th) and Assan Ouédraogo (65th).
After the city of Osnabrück closed the stadium at the Bremer Bridge for security reasons and no spectators were allowed at the Millerntor, VfL found it very difficult to cope with the ghostly atmosphere. Schalke duped the Osnabrück defense on the first two occasions. First Topp completed Simon Terodde’s preparatory work, then Karaman beat VfL keeper Philipp Kühn with a well-placed shot from the edge of the penalty area.
After the early lead, the guests withdrew and left the field to the Lower Saxons. Except for a long-range shot from Athanasios Androutsos (39′), Osnabrück didn’t get any dangerous shots. Even after the break there was hardly any rebellion from VfL. Substitute Ouédraogo and Topp sealed the purple-whites’ eighth second division relegation with Schalke’s goals three and four.