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Darmstadt earn promotion, Karlsruhe face Hamburg in play-off games

Xinhua, May 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

Second-placed Darmstadt sealed their promotion for Germany's top flight while third-placed Karlsruhe face Hamburg for a promotion play-off game after the last round of Bundesliga's second division on Sunday.

After second division champions Ingolstadt wrapped up their top-flight status for next season a week ago, second-placed Darmstadt followed into the first division after 33 year of absence thanks to the 1-0 victory over St. Pauli.

Meanwhile third-placed Karlsruhe face Hamburg for two Bundesliga play-off games next week.

The "Lilien" finished their fairy tale season as they marched from the third via the second into Germany's first division. Darmstadt defended their second place in the standings with a 1-0 victory over St. Pauli to secure their promotion.

St. Pauli defended deep and were able to keep offensively minded Darmstadt on the distance. However, Tobias Kempe utilized a dead ball to score the only goal of the game from 27 meters. Kempe curled the ball over the wall into the bottom left corner to seal the deal at the 71st minute.

Elsewhere, Karlsruhe still have the opportunity to return into the first division after a six-season absence. The "KSC" defended their third place against fourth-placed Kaiserslautern, with a 2-0 victory over 1860 Munich, to face Hamburg in a two-legged promotion play-off.

Karlsruhe caught a perfect start on home soil as 1860 Munich's Kai Buelow deflected Manuel Torres cross into his own goal to open the scoring for the hosts with just nine minutes into the game. After the restart Torres was again in the thick of things when he donated the two-goal lead after tapping home a through-ball by Enrico Valentini from inside the box at the 69th minute.

With the 2-0 victory against 1860 Munich, Karlsruhe sewed up their promotion play-off games against Hamburg, who enter their second consecutive promotion battle, on May 28 and June 1. Endi