2. Bundesliga: Kornetka ends Düsseldorf's momentum in Braunschweig debut | OneFootball

With Emmanuel Iyoha suffering a late injury during the warm-up, Fortuna Düsseldorf were missing 13 players. The list includes the club’s top-scorer as Cedric Itten had to be replaced by winter signing Marin Ljubicic.

Braunschweig are starting a new era with Lars Kornetka taking over from Heiner Backhaus after a 98th-minute Paderborn equalizer denied them a first win in five games. Kornetka, who will stay in his role as Ralf Rangnick’s assistant coach for Austria, will face a stern test to keep the side from relegation to 3. Liga.

The first warning for the hosts came when Ljubicic scored with a clinical finish, only to see his goal chalked off for an offside. The Union Berlin loanee had a lively start in his first league start of the season as he also had the next chance of the game before Robin Heußer’s effort for the hosts.

Marcel Lotka, who continues to fill in for the injured captain Florian Kastenmaier in goal, made his first save of the game from Mehmet Aydin’s free-kick. The hosts continued to create chances as Heußer rounds off Lotka before Sotiris Alexandropoulos’ crucial intervention denied him a shooting chance.

Despite positive signs in the latter stage of the half, Düsseldorf finished the first 45 minutes without a shot on target. Although his team showed a positive response in his debut, Kornetka made a couple of half-time substitutions. Both goalkeepers had uncertain moments where they had to rush outside their respective boxes inside the first ten minutes after the restart.

Heußer did eventually get his deserved goal at the hour mark with a brilliant finish to put the hosts ahead. The midfielder scored his first two goals for the club in back-to-back games. In the next five minutes, Lotka had a decent save before VAR denied birthday boy Fabio Di Michele Sanchez a spectacular goal.

Substitutes Jovan Mijatovic and Grant-Leon Ranos had great chances to seal the points for the relegation-threatened side, but they lacked the cutting edge. Florent Muslija led Düsseldorf’s late attempt to salvage a draw, although the hosts defended their box valiantly to earn precious three points. Former Bayern Munich goalkeeper Ron-Thorben Hoffmann had a quiet afternoon on his return from injury before making a huge save to deny Elias Egouli in an exciting end to the game.

Düsseldorf now face a setback after back-to-back wins, while Kornetka revived Braunschweig’s survival hopes on his debut. There is only a two-point difference between the two sides after today's game.