Bundesliga strugglers Nurnberg put up a valiant fight but their chances of getting something from the game looked slimmer when Andreas Wolf was given his marching orders in the second half.

Christian Eichner gave Karlsruhe the lead in the 64th minute, and Kennedy put one past his old team-mates in the 74th to seal the three points.

Karlsruhe finished 2007 with the best record for a promoted club since Kaiserslautern won the Bundesliga title in their first year back in the top flight 10 years ago.

And Edmund Becker's team continued that run, moving to 31 points, and fifth place - eight points behind leaders Bayern Munich.

Nurnberg remain in the relegation zone with 15 points.

The visitors' new boy, Jan Koller, had an early chance to open the scoring as Karlsruhe keeper Markus Miller was forced to bat his header over the bar in the eighth minute.

Nurnberg went a man down in the 57th minute when Wolf earned a second yellow card for repeated fouling and Karlsruhe took just 10 minutes to take advantage of the extra man.

Kennedy fed Eichner on the left who sent a low shot off the far right post which Nurnberg keeper Jaromir Blazek should have dealt with better.

The hosts finished the game off in the 74th as Kennedy scored against his old team-mates. Michael Mutzel raced to the by-line and crossed for Kennedy to volley home from six yards out.

The visitors almost pulled one back but Miller did a great job getting a foot on Angelos Charisteas' drive in the 79th minute.

But the best chance of the final stages went to Karlsruhe as Sebastian Freis struck the underside of the crossbar in injury time.