Darmstadt beat St Pauli to return to Bundesliga after 33-year absence
BERLIN --
Darmstadt will join German second division champion Ingolstadt in the Bundesliga next season after beating St. Pauli 1-0 on the last day of the season Sunday.
Tobias Kempe scored in the 78th minute for Darmstadt, who were promoted from the third division last season, to finish second with 59 points - one ahead of Karlsruher SC, who defeated 1860 Munich 2-0.
Karlsruher SC now face Hamburger SV in a two-legged playoff to determine which side will play top-flight football next season.
Darmstadt previously played two seasons in the Bundesliga, in 1978-79 and 1981-82, but the club dropped to fourth-tier level by 1998. Darmstadt also flirted with bankruptcy in 2008 before insolvency proceedings were withdrawn the following year. They are the third club to achieve promotion to the top division after being promoted from the third tier the season before.
"It's awesome, incredible, hard to find words," Darmstadt coach Dirk Schuster said. "The guys gave absolutely everything they had week after week."
Kaiserslautern were leading Ingolstadt 1-0 and had been on course for the relegation/promotion playoff place before Kempe's goal lifted Darmstadt clear and Ingolstadt equalized to draw 1-1.
Kaiserslautern finished fourth for the second successive season.
Ingolstadt were promoted last Sunday.
