A second-half brace from Jürgen Gjasula was enough to earn VfR Aalen a point, putting a dent in Karlsruher SC’s promotion hopes.

The visitors travelled to Aalen on the back of a 0-0 draw against second placed Kaiserslautern, whilst Aalen earned a 1-1 draw away to 1860 München.

It took Karlsruher just two minutes to get on the scoresheet as Rouwen Hennings took the ball in his stride before unleashing a left-footed shot beyond Daniel Berhnhardt.

The 27-year old striker scored his 11th goal of the season as Karlsruher looked to continue their fine run of form, having gone seven games without losing.

Iliyan Mitanski scored into an empty net for Karlsruher after 63 minutes before Gjasula scored his third of the season to equalise for Aalen.

Erzgebirge Aue’s win over 1860 München means that despite Gjasula’s two goals, Aalen remain in 17th place, extending their unbeaten run to four games.

Prior to kick-off, Karlsruher were just one point behind SV Darmstadt 98 in third place. However, after their win against Bochum, Karlsruher find themselves three points behind.

Karlsruher had struck early through Hennings, whilst Jürgen Gjasula came close to equalising mid-way through the first half for Aalen. The midfielder’s free-kick found the post, deflecting the ball onto Dirk Orlishausen’s back and out for a corner.

Despite losing, Aalen did not look like a team in trouble going into half-time. Gjasula again came close for the home side but the Albanian could not find a way through the defence.

Michael Klauß forced a save from Orlishausen in the early stages of the second half, and moments later, persistence paid off as Andreas Ludwig was brought down inside the area.

Gjasula made up for his early miss, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way from the spot to equalise after 53 minutes.

Just 10 minutes later and Karlsruher were back in the lead after a nice interchange between Hennings and Jonas Meffert led the ball being played to Mitanski, who had an empty net to score.

Moments later, and Gjasula grabbed the all-important equaliser for Aalen as Karlsruher failed to clear their lines, resulting in the Albanian going unchallenged, scoring from 15-yards.

Aalen head to the capital next weekend as they face FC Union Berlin, whilst Karlsruher face Saint Pauli.