Karlsruher SC were in desperate need of three points in order to climb out of the relegation places. However, it was not meant to be this time as Fortuna Düsseldorf beat the hosts 3-0 in a very one-sided encounter.

Team news

KSC head coach Mirko Slomka brought three new players into the team following their defeat at Aue last week; Charalampos Mavrias, David Kinsombi and Dennis Kempe replaced Benedikt Gimber, Dimitrios Diamantakos and Matthias Bader. 

Fortuna coach Friedhelm Funkel only changed one position; Adam Bodzek started for Christian Gartner. 

KSC with good beginning, Fortuna with two quick goals

The hosts began very focused and motivated, having had good possession in the opening first minutes. Karlsruhe could have taken a few attempts on target, but the triple-corner did not trouble Fortuna 'keeper Michael Rensing. 

Nine minutes in to the game, David Kinsombi could have given the lead to the Blue-Whites after receiving the ball in the area, though his attempt was blocked by Rensing. Moritz Stoppelkamp's shot then just missed the right post. 

The match eventually picked up in roughness as many fouls and bookings interrupted the flow. In the 26th minute, Dirk Orlishausen's goal kick saw Bodzek heading the ball towards the left wing. Kaan Ayhan played it towards Lukas Schmitz, who found former KSC striker Rouwen Hennings in the box. His tap-in gave the visitors the lead at the Wildparkstadion. 

Just three minutes later, Jordi Figueras deflected a Düsseldorf corner into his own net, which gave Fortuna a comfortable 2-0 lead just 30 minutes inside the match. Karlsruhe needed a few moments to recover from this shock. Thus it was Grischa Prömel, who could have brought Karlsruhe back into the game before half-time as his shot was again superbly saved by Rensing. 

Karlsruhe harmless, Hennings with a brace

Slomka had to react and brought Marvin Mehlem and Dimitrios Diamantakos into the game. The match however, remained unchanged. It even slowed down, no major attempts by either team. It changed into a boring game, with Karlsruhe not investing enough to eventually come back. There was no passion whatsoever, which gave Düsseldorf a relaxed second half to play, some defending here and there was enough to secure the eventual victory away at the Fächerstadt. 

However, Düsseldorf did get the third goal in the last minute as Hennings again tapped in a cross from Ihlas Bebou. Düsseldorf therefore gathered all three points at the Wildparkstadion where as Karlsruhe, fall down to the 18th place. 

The Blue-Whites travel to Nürnberg after the International break. Fortuna Düsseldorf hosts 1860 München.