2. Bundesliga: Kaiserslautern run out comfortable winners over Karlsruhe | OneFootball

An early strike from Semih Şahin set the hosts on their way before further goals from Mërgim Berisha and Mahir Emreli secured a comfortable win for Torsten Lieberknecht’s side at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion.

Kaiserslautern wasted little time asserting themselves and took the lead after just three minutes. Following a scramble inside the penalty area, Naatan Skyttä laid the ball off to Şahin on the edge of the box, and the midfielder rifled a powerful effort past the returning Hans Christian Bernat.

Karlsruhe attempted to respond but were dealt another blow just 11 minutes later. Bernat endured a difficult start as he spilled a free-kick from Marlon Ritter into a dangerous area, allowing Berisha to react quickest and bundle the ball home from close range to double the hosts’ advantage.

Lieberknecht’s side continued to apply pressure for the remainder of the first half and could easily have added a third. Both Şahin and Skyttä came close, but Karlsruhe managed to limit the damage and headed into the interval trailing by two goals.

The second half followed a similar pattern, with Kaiserslautern looking to put the result beyond doubt. Berisha came agonisingly close to his second of the afternoon when he was played through on goal and attempted an audacious lob from the edge of the area, only to see his effort crash against the crossbar with Bernat beaten.

Karlsruhe struggled to mount any meaningful response and Bernat remained the busier of the two goalkeepers. The visitors’ best opportunities arrived late on, but Fabian Schleusener and Louey Ben Farhat were both unable to reduce the deficit in the 90th minute.

Four minutes into stoppage time, Emreli put the seal on the victory. The forward won possession high up the pitch before calmly slotting into the bottom corner to wrap up an emphatic 3-0 win for the hosts.

The result sees Kaiserslautern remain seventh in the table but brings an end to a run of two consecutive defeats. Karlsruhe, meanwhile, suffer their first loss in three matches and finish the weekend in eighth place.