Ewald Lienen made two changes to the team for the crucial six-pointer against Karlsruhe. Captain Sören Gonther came in for Lasse Sobiech, who was unable to train fully during the week due to illness, while Mats Møller Dæhli returned to the side in place of Johannes Flum, who was handed a well-earned breather after a busy schedule in recent weeks.

The Boys in Brown made a very bright start, fashioning a string of chances in the opening stages. Møller Dæhli gave notice of their intent in the third minute with a shot that flew just over the crossbar. Marc Hornschuh directed a header into the arms of Dirk Orlishausen from a corner two minutes later and then headed wide from a Cenk Sahin free-kick on 11. The opening goal seemed imminent and sure enough it arrived in the 12th minute when Sahin broke clear down the right and curled a shot against the inside of the far post, where Møller Dæhli was on hand to tap home from close range.

Karlsruhe threatened for the first time after 17 minutes when Moritz Stoppelkamp hit a smart shot on the turn that Philipp Heerwagen pushed past the post for a corner. The Boys in Brown retained control of the game, however, and continued to impress as they went in search of a second goal. Some lovely moves were put together and often it was only the final ball that was lacking. Yet the biggest chance in this phase fell to the visitors, and Heerwagen had to produce a brilliant stop to keep out a Bjarne Thoelke header from a 36th minute corner.

Apart from that effort Karlsruhe had few ideas and never really looked like they could force an equaliser. Lienen's side, on the other hand, passed their way forward at will and almost doubled their advantage on the stroke of half-time. Møller Dæhli conjured up a delightful backheel to tee up Aziz Bouhaddouz, who stung the hands of Orlishausen with a piledriver from the edge of the box. That was the last action of the first 45 and the Boys in Brown went in at the break with a deserved 1-0 lead.