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Hamburg beat Karlsruhe 2-1 to stay in first division

Xinhua, June 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

Hamburg came from behind to overcome Karlsruhe 2-1 in a dramatic second-leg encounter of the promotion play-off games at outsold Wildpark stadium on Monday.

Hamburg avoided the club's first ever relegation into the second division as substitute Nicolai Mueller marked the 2-1 winner in the extra-time to book the "Rothosen" a spot in Germany's top flight for the season 2015-2016. Meanwhile, Karlsruhe squandered in both games a one-goal lead to remain in the second division for another season following the 3-2 loss on aggregate.

The stakes couldn't be higher for both clubs as Hamburg needed a win or a higher draw than 1-1 to avoid the club's first every relegation in the Bundesliga history, since its foundation in 1963, whereas Karlsruhe needed a win or a goalless draw to earn their promotion into the first division after a six-season absence.

Hamburg took the reins from the kick off while the hosts defended deep to lurk for counter attacks. Despite more ball possession Hamburg lacked to pose any threat to Karlsruhe's well- positioned defence.

The host increased their efforts after the restart and were rewarded as Reinhold Yabo chipped into the path of Rouwen Hennings, who tapped in from inside the box at the 78th minute.

Hamburg had an ace in the hole as Chilean international Marcelo Diaz silenced the Wildpark stadium when he curled a free kick from 18 meters over the wall into the top left corner, restoring parity in the dying seconds of the game.

Mueller made use of Cleber's square pass to slot home to 2-1 victory with five minutes remaining in the extra time.

Rouwen Hennings had the chance to equalize the scores but Hamburg goalkeeper Rene Adler saved the penalty with the last action of the game. With the result the "HSV" rescued their first division status for a second time in row in a relegation play-off clash. Endite