2. Bundesliga leaders Holstein Kiel were held to a goalless draw by Eintracht Braunschweig, and must wait to see if they will reach the halfway point of the season as leaders.

The hosts, looking to charge back up the table, had the better of the first half and much of the second, before surviving a Kiel barrage late on, with Rafael Czichos having a goal disallowed late on.

Early chance for Ducksch before Zuck and Moll come close

Kiel had the chance to become Herbstmeister – the top team at the halfway stage of the season – with a win here, after missing out in the 2-2 draw against second-placed Fortuna Düsseldorf last weekend. Steven Lewerenz came back in for Aaron Seydel from that game. Braunschweig, who were top at this stage last season, won for the first time in five games against FC Ingolstadt 04 on Monday night. Ken Reichel, who was suspended, and Salim Khelifi dropped out for Steffen Nkansah and Quirin Moll.

The Storks started with typical confidence, yet surprisingly their first chance after five minutes would be their best in the entire first half. Marvin Ducksch, on 10 goals for the season, came forward and looked good for an eleventh, however Jasmin Fezjic stayed strong and stuck out an arm to divert it wide.

The game became quite scrappy, with the hosts posing a threat on the counter. Twice, Suleiman Abdullahi looked to break forward, but on both occasions the Kiel defence did its job, with the second occasion seeing Czichos dealing with him before he could take advantage of Kenneth Kronholm coming out of his goal.

Braunschweig would then have two great chances to take the lead. A free-kick from Jan Hochscheidt found the head of Hendrick Zuck at the near post, but he could only head wide. Louis Samson’s scuffed cross presented an even better opportunity to Moll, however Patrick Herrmann did well to block. Despite their best efforts, neither would have another clear sight of goal before the break.

Lions strong after the break before Kiel launch late onslaught

The Lions though started the second half very strongly indeed. Onel Hernández nearly scored a stunning goal after beating his way past Johannes van den Bergh, with his effort bound for the top corner, only for Kronholm to take it. The Kiel goalkeeper then denied Abdullahi with another save a couple of minutes later.

The game became stretched again after that, with a needless flare up in the Braunschweig box when Dominik Schmidt appeared to trip up Hochscheidt, moments after being booked for a barge on the Braunschweig man, with Fejzic then earning a booking for a spat in amongst it all with Ducksch.

With 20 minutes remaining Kiel began to push for the all-important winner. A cross from Dominick Drexler deserved better from Ducksch, who hurried his shot and put it well wide and was subsequently replaced a couple of minutes later. They would come closer though, with Kingsley Schindler’s effort on target put over the bar by Fejzic, before a mistake from Nkansah presented a great chance to Lewerenz, only for him to put it over.

Another chance came and went for Kiel as Alexander Mühling struck over, before Drexler had big claims for a penalty as he went down under challenge from Samson, although the Braunschweig man perhaps just got the ball. Their efforts became more and more frantic, with Czichos appearing to head in a corner in stoppage time – but it was disallowed as he had in fact headed straight into Fejzic, rather than make contact with the ball.

It would ultimately finish goalless though, and so Kiel must wait until Düsseldorf play 1. FC Nürnberg on Monday night to find out if they will be Herbstmeister. Whilst only an honorary achievement, it could be significant – in the last six seasons, only Braunschweig last year failed to win promotion having been top after 17 games.

Friday's other 2. Bundesliga match

Erzgebirge Aue 1-0 SV Darmstadt 98 (1-0, Soukou 35')

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