Bundesliga, Round 28

Some wild matches in this round, as Bayern creeps closer to Dortmund and Kaiserslautern fans purchase their Bundesbahn 2.Liga train tickets…

	
Borussia Dortmund	-    VfB Stuttgart	4:4 (1:0)    80,720

                       1:0  Kagawa (33., Kehl)
                       2:0  Blaszczykowski (49., Hummels)
                       2:1  Ibisevic (71., Niedermeier)
                       2:2  Schieber (77., Ibisevic)
                       2:3  Schieber (79.,  Kuzmanovic)
                       3:3  Hummels (82., Kehl)
                       4:3  Perisic (87., Schmelzer)
                       4:4  Gentner (90. + 2, )

1. FC Nürnberg	        -    Bayern München	0:1 (0:0)    48,548

                       0:1  Robben (69., Ribery)

1. FC Kaiserslautern	-    Hamburger SV	0:1 (0:1)    44,745

                       0:1  Jansen (28., Ilicevic)

Werder Bremen	        -    1. FSV Mainz 05	0:3 (0:1)    40,132

                       0:1  Szalai (19., Ivanschitz)
                       0:2  Choupo-Moting (48., Zabavnik)
                       0:3  Choupo-Moting (74., Baumgartlinger)

Bayer Leverkusen	-    SC Freiburg	0:2 (0:1)    28,342

                       0:1  Schuster (8.)
                       0:2  D. Caligiuri (60.)

FC Augsburg	        -    1. FC Köln	        2:1 (2:1)    30,660

                       1:0  Koo (19., Bellinghausen)
                       1:1  Podolski (42., penalty, Podolski)
                       2:1  Rafael (45., penalty, Baier)

Hertha BSC Berlin       -    VfL Wolfsburg	1:4 (1:2)    46,388

                       1:0  Kobiashvili (13., Rukavytsya)
                       1:1  Janker (29., own goal, Dejagah)
                       1:2  Helmes (34., Dejagah)
                       1:3  Mandzukic (77., Träsch)
                       1:4  Helmes (81., Mandzukic)

Sunday:
	
Hannover 96	        -    Bor. M'gladbach	2:1 (0:0)    49,000

                       1:0  Ya Konan (57., Rausch)
                       2:0  M. Diouf (76., Schlaudraff)
                       2:1  Nordtveit (78., Arango)


1899 Hoffenheim	        -    FC Schalke 04	1:1 (1:0)    30,150

                       1:0  Salihovic (30., penalty, Schipplock)
                       1:1  Huntelaar (80., penalty, Obasi)


 1  Borussia Dortmund (M)	28    19    6 	 3 	63:21  +42    63 
 2  Bayern München	  	28    19    3 	 6 	67:18  +49    60 
 3  FC Schalke 04 (P)	  	28    17    3 	 8      61:35  +26    54
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Borussia M'gladbach	  	28    15    6 	 7      41:20  +21    51
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  Hannover 96	  	        28    10   11 	 7 	37:39  -2     41 
 6  VfB Stuttgart	  	28    11    7 	10 	48:38  +10    40 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 7  Bayer Leverkusen	  	28    11    7 	10 	39:38  +1     40
 8  Werder Bremen	  	28    11    7 	10 	41:43  -2     40 
 9  VfL Wolfsburg	  	28    12    4 	12 	40:49  -9     40 
10  1899 Hoffenheim	  	28     8   10 	10 	32:39  -7     34 
11  1. FSV Mainz 05	  	28     8    9 	11 	42:44  -2     33 
12  1. FC Nürnberg	  	28     9    4 	15 	25:39  -14    31 
13  SC Freiburg	  	        28     8    7 	13 	37:53  -16    31 
14  FC Augsburg (N)	  	28     6   12 	10 	30:42  -12    30 
15  Hamburger SV	  	28     7    9 	12      32:50  -18    30
------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  1. FC Köln	  	        28     8    4 	16 	35:58  -23    28
------------------------------------------------------------------------
17  Hertha BSC Berlin (N)	28     6    8 	14 	30:52  -22    26 
18  1. FC Kaiserslautern	28     3   11 	14 	17:39  -22    20

Dortmund will kick themselves for not finishing off Stuttgart when they had the chance, and VfB demonstrates that when they are firing on all cylinders, they have an attack to be feared. The Neons once again dominated with their “pretty” football, creating loads of chances – I believe the official count was 27 (!) shots on target – but as usual wasted most of them. Nevertheless, after scores by Kagawa and Kuba, they seemed to be sailing to a solid victory. They seemed to take their foot off the gas just a bit, and within 10 minutes, Stuttgart took advantage of the unusually chaotic Dortmunde defense and completely turned the match on it’s head. To their credit, Dortmund revved up their engines once more and pressed to again “win” the match, but in injury time, they fell asleep once again and Stuttgart achieved a a somewhat lucky, but not totally undeserved, draw.

Bayern had a difficult time in the Bavarian derby at Nürnberg. The Müncheners controlled the match and pressed hard, but FCN was fighting for every ball and was well organized in defense. It took a long time for Bayern to break through (and once again it was “Robbery”), and till the end, der Club made it difficult. By no means undeserved win, but FCB is probably happy to escape with the points. Of course this means they are within striking distance of Dortmund, with that show down still to come. Nürnberg remains in a precarious position, but at least they’ve shown they’re capable of fighting.

A desperate relegation battle in Kaiserslautern, and FCK and HSV both looked nervous and crap. Neither club looked good, but both demonstrated an urgency to win the ball and boot it out of danger. A score by Marcel Jansen put HSV in the drivers seat. Hamburg hadn’t won in 6 matches, so this this lifts a huge burden off their shoulders. They still suck, but at least they haven’t collapsed. HSV is the only club that has been in every Bundesliga season since foundation in 1963, and I feel they’ll muddle through somehow. I fear the game is now over for FCK. They can’t score and they suck, which is a dangerous combination. New coach Krassimir Balakov probably wants to don a jersey and show how it’s done, because the Devils have forgotten, and relegation seems inevitable.

Bremen fans were stunned as Werder looked incompetant and Mainz ran rings around them. Werder hopes to sneak into Europe, and the visitors are trying to avoid relegation, but it certainly looked the opposite. Bremen sucked in all categories and Mainz helped themselves, kicking the Greens in the nuts and gathering some critical points. Bremen really looks like a boat without a rudder.

In an interview earlier this week, Bayer Leverkusen president Werner Holzhauser (or whatever his name is) floated the idea that Germany should switch to some sort of playoff system with a final to determine the champion. His argument was that would create more excitement, “just look at the Cup final”….SHUT UP YOU WANKER!!! That’s what the “Cup” is for. The Champion should be the best team, period. You’re just looking for a way to sneak in, ya bastard. And Luserkusen is never the best team, so put a sock in it. And if you need more excitement, then fire Robin Dutt and your players, then your matches wouldn’t be so boring. To demonstrate that, the Aspirins went out and stunk up the joint against relegation threatened Freiburg. SCF ran rings around them, with a tightly organized defense and clever counterattacks. Dutt probably wished he was back in Freiburg, because the Alka-Seltzers looked horrible. Great win for Freiburg though. I kinda thought they would drop, but they seem to have other ideas and recently have demonstrated true grit. (Note: After the match, Dutt was fired and replaced by Sami Hyppiaa)

Augsburg picked up a huge victory in a relegation 6 pointer against Köln. It was fully deserved, as the visitors showed nothing. FCA doesn’t have much talent, so they basically run around and try and kick anything that looks round, but they’re proof that fighting spirit has it’s place. They worked hard and Köln sucked. If the Fuggers had some decent talent, they probably would have won in a rout, but they struggled to get the win. Köln recently elected former great Karl-Heinz Thielen as President (replacing the legendary Wolfgang Overath), and he really has his work cut out. Köln, like Hamburg, should be a power, but they’ve sucked for quite a while, and have been chaotic for over a decade. Once again they’re in a relegation spot, and with the inevitable sale of Lukas Podolski in the summer, they’ve got some serious rebuilding to do. I’m not sure coach Stale Solbakken is right, but he has nothing to work with, so it would be unfair to blame him for the sucking.

Hertha BSC started off brightly against Wolfsburg, and grabbed an early lead. They became a bit unglued as an own goal gave the VWs an equalizer, but were still playing well. However, as the match went on, they seemed to get more incompetant, and Wolfsburg smelled blood. As it was, a revived Patrick Helmes put the Berliners to the sword, and relegation looks more likely than ever. Otto Rehagel has quite a problem to solve, as his reputation is making the best of what he has. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like he has anything, and Hertha needs some wins. The Wolfs are actually in contention for the Europa-liga now – and with only Stuttgart coming strong, Hannover indifferent and Luserkusen and Bremen sucking wind, their chances are not unreasonable.

Hannover and Gladbach were mired in a dire defensive struggle, as both teams wanted to counterattack. As a result, not much was happening. The 96ers looked more engaged and a bit more aggressive in the 2nd period, and were rewarded with a couple of goals. This woke Gladbach up, and they immediately attacked and got back in the game. However, it was too late, and they were unable to re-establish equality, as Hannover’s tight marking clamped down. A big win for the 96ers, as they vault over 4 clubs into a Europa-liga spot. Gladbach loses

Hoffenheim and Schalke put in a good match for the fans, with lots of end-to-end action. The Hoppers looked the better team, more aggressive, in the 1st half. Schalke put more effort in the 2nd period as they were chasing the lead. In the end, a fair representation of play.

3.Liga, Round 32

The 3.Liga has plenty of draws, showing the equality of the league. This round is no exception…both promotion and relegation battle remain fierce…

Wacker Burghausen    -    SV Sandhausen	         0:0 (0:0)    2,970
Jahn Regensburg	     -    Preußen Münster	 2:1 (0:0)    2,856
Rot-Weiß Erfurt	     -    1. FC Saarbrücken	 1:1 (0:1)    4,980
VfL Osnabrück	     -    Rot-Weiß Oberhausen	 1:1 (1:0)    7,500
VfR Aalen	     -    Chemnitzer FC	         0:2 (0:1)    5,557
SV Darmstadt 98	     -    SpVgg Unterhaching	 0:0 (0:0)    7,000
Arminia Bielefeld    -    Kickers Offenbach	 1:1 (1:0)    7,235
SV Wehen Wiesbaden   -    1. FC Heidenheim	 1:2 (0:0)    3,088

Sunday:

Werder Bremen II     -    SV Babelsberg 03 	 1:2 (0:2)      513
VfB Stuttgart II     -    Carl Zeiss Jena        3:0 (2:0)    1,500


 1  SV Sandhausen	  	32    16     9 	  7 	49:35  +14   57 
 2  VfR Aalen	  	        32    16     8 	  8 	42:33  +9    56
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Chemnitzer FC (N)	  	32    15     8 	  9 	45:33  +12   53
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  1. FC Heidenheim	  	32    14     9 	  9 	41:31  +10   51 
 5  Jahn Regensburg	  	32    13    11 	  8 	47:34  +13   50 
 6  Wacker Burghausen	  	32    11    16 	  5 	48:39  +9    49 
 7  Rot-Weiß Erfurt	  	32    11    14 	  7     42:35  +7    47 
 8  Kickers Offenbach	  	32    12    10 	 10 	39:32  +7    46 
 9  1. FC Saarbrücken	  	32    10    13 	  9 	52:45  +7    43 
10  VfL Osnabrück (A)	  	31    10    13 	  8 	37:30  +7    43 
11  SV Darmstadt 98 (N)	  	32    10    10 	 12 	40:41  -1    40
12  VfB Stuttgart II	  	32     9    12 	 11 	34:41  -7    39
13  Preußen Münster (N)	  	31     8    14 	  9 	32:35  -3    38 
14  Arminia Bielefeld (A)	32     8    14   10 	44:49  -5    38 
15  SpVgg Unterhaching	  	32    10     7 	 15 	49:50  -1    37 
16  SV Babelsberg 03	  	32     9    10 	 13 	37:49  -12   37 
17  Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (A)	32     8    12 	 12 	31:38  -7    36 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
18  SV Wehen Wiesbaden	  	32     8    11 	 13 	34:44  -10   35
19  Carl Zeiss Jena	  	32     6    11 	 15 	31:51  -20   29 
20  Werder Bremen II	  	32     4    10 	 18 	29:58  -29   22

Chemnitz is on a rampage. The newly promoted club is unbeaten in 15 matches, and with a huge away win at Aalen not only win their 5th in a row, they become a serious threat for auto-promotion. The easterners grabbed an early lead and ran rings around Aalen, as they hosts tried to force their way back in. Both sides had chances, but in injury time CFC knocked in the decider for a huge win.

Burghausen needed a win, but they haven’t done well at home recently. Plus they were facing the leaders, and SVS had the edge throughout most of the match. I don’t think either side can complain too much about the scoreless draw.

Heidenheim had a hard fought win in Wiesbaden against Wehen. This keeps both clubs nervous, Heidenheim looking up to promotion, and Wehen trying to stave off relegation.

An interesting match in Bielefeld. Arminia and Offenbach will forever be linked together from the early 1970s “Bundesliga-Skandal” bribery brouhaha that hurt German football for more than a decade. Of course both clubs have long since gone the straight path, but of course been on hard times. (Offenbach has never recovered, but Bielefeld continued on wild elevator rides – currently on the “down”). Both clubs delivered an engaging match, Arminia having the edge, but they let up and allowed Kickers to grab a late equalizer. It really helps neither, but seems fair.

Oberhausen continued their revival from the dead with a hard fought draw at Osnabrück, which hurts VfL, pretty much ending their slim promotion hoes. RWO looked dead most of the season, but the last month has seen a turnaround, and they have a good chance of surviving. Midfielder Anel Dzaka grabbed a late goal to save the point.

A grim result for Jena, as they got bitchslapped against Stuttgart’s B. They were without a chance, and their ex-player Benyamina opened the scoring after only 6 minutes. I find it interesting that 1,500 folks show up, which is pretty decent for “II” home matches, which are often in the hundreds. This might have been the last straw for Jena, it’s looking very grim.

Babelsberg did get a huge win at Bremen II. The Potsdamers grabbed a controlling lead at halftime, but then had to withstand Werder pressure to hold onto their lead.

Europa-liga: Spain wins

Schalke gets bitch-slapped by the Basques, and Hannover loses in Madrid. More details to follow shortly…

Schalke was the stronger team in the 1st half, but Bilbao’s attacks were very efficient and dangerous. Llorente poked home after GK Timo Hildebrand had a Butterfinger. But the Blues were equal only a couple of minutes later as Raul managed to force the ball in. Despite some sustained pressure, Schalke was unable to get another before half. In the 2nd period, Schalke was pressured, as Bilbao attempted to break through against the 4th string keeper Mattias Schober (Hildebrand came off due to “injury” at half). However, they withstood the run, and then turned on their own juice. They were quickly rewarded with another Raul goal. Now was the chance to press home, and they almost came to a 3rd. But then inexplicably, they seemed to take a foot off the gas. The Basques sensed that Schalke was wussified, and struck viciously to basically end this tie. The Schalkers will rue all their wasted chances.

Hannover did much better, although it started as a disaster. Atletico was all over the 96ers, and it looked like a rout was in the making. But the Spaniards wasted their chances, and gradually Hannover began to fight back, with in form Diouf scoring. The 96ers then withstood Atletico’s pressure until the end, but still remain in a decent position to advance.


Schalke 04     -    Athletic Bilbao     2:4 (1:1)    53,883

              0:1  F. Llorente (20., Ander)
              1:1  Raul (22., Uchida)
              2:1  Raul (59.)
              2:2  F. Llorente (73., Ibai)
              2:3  de Marcos (81., M. Susaeta)
              2:4  Iker Muniain (90. + 3, M. Susaeta)


Atletico Madrid - Hannover 96    2:1 (1:1)    29,000

              1:0  Falcao (9., Gabi)
              1:1  M. Diouf (38., Stindl)
              2:1  Salvio (89.)


3.Liga Makeup matches

Makeup matches in the 3.Liga, and things went badly for relegation clubs. Well, for the ones in deepest holes, that is. A huge relegation battle in Münster brought a decent weeknight crowd and Preussen was up to the task against Jena. The win was well deserved by the Eagles, who controlled most of the play. Jena needed a result to get back in the race, but this loss may be the straw that sinks them.

A nice crowd in Darmstadt as well, and the hosts also helped themselves to a point, staying above relegation waters. Erfurt wanted a win to get closer to 3rd, but frankly, they did nothing to look like a winner. They’re a point closer, but none of the contenders willbe shaking in their boots based on this performance.

Offenbach eeked out an away win at troubled Babelsberg. Hardly impressive, but the Kickers grabbed their last opportunity to stay in the promotion sweepstakes. Needless to say, Babelsberg needed a result as well, but remain mired in a relegation spot.

Preußen Münster     -    Carl Zeiss Jena      1:0 (1:0)    5,653
SV Babelsberg 03    -    Kickers Offenbach    0:1 (0:0)    2,578
SV Darmstadt 98     -    Rot-Weiß Erfurt      1:1 (1:1)    6,300

 1  SV Sandhausen            31  16   8   7    49:35  +14    56
 2  VfR Aalen                31  16   8   7    42:31  +11    56
---------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Chemnitzer FC (N)        31  14   8   9    43:33  +10    50
---------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Wacker Burghausen        31  11  15   5    48:39  +9     48
 5  1. FC Heidenheim         31  13   9   9    39:30  +9     48
 6  Jahn Regensburg          31  12  11   8    45:33  +12    47
 7  Rot-Weiß Erfurt          31  11  13   7    41:34  +7     46
 8  Kickers Offenbach        31  12   9  10    38:31  +7     45
 9  1. FC Saarbrücken        31  10  12   9    51:44  +7     42
10  VfL Osnabrück (A)        30  10  12   8    36:29  +7     42
11  SV Darmstadt 98 (N)      31  10   9  12    40:41  -1     39
12  Preußen Münster (N)      30   8  14   8    31:33  -2     38
13  Arminia Bielefeld (A)    31   8  13  10    43:48  -5     37
14  SpVgg Unterhaching       31  10   6  15    49:50  -1     36
15  VfB Stuttgart II         31   8  12  11    31:41  -10    36
16  Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (A)  31   8  11  12    30:37  -7     35
17  SV Wehen Wiesbaden       31   8  11  12    33:42  -9     35
---------------------------------------------------------------
18  SV Babelsberg 03         31   8  10  13    35:48  -13    34
19  Carl Zeiss Jena          31   6  11  14    31:48  -17    29
20  Werder Bremen II         31   4  10  17    28:56  -28    22

Euro matches

Bayern München beat Olympique Marseille 2-0 in the first round of the Champions League tie in France. This makes it pretty likely that Bayern will advance to the semi-finals. Overall, Bayern was clearly the better team, although GK Manuel Neuer had to be sharp early in the match when OM got some excellent chances. However goals by Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben put down the hosts, and underscored Bayern’s dominance. Somewhat surprising is that the Stade Velodrome was only half full, around 32,000 in attendance.

2.Liga, Round 27

Fürth and Frankfurt open lead at the top, some struggling clubs get good results in relegation fights.

Dynamo Dresden	       -   1860 München	        0:1 (0:0)     29,329

                      0:1  Lauth (61., Nicu)

FSV Frankfurt	       -   Alemannia Aachen	2:1 (1:1)      5,019	

                      1:0  Gledson (6., Gaus)
                      1:1  Auer (22., Achenbach)
                      2:1  M. Görlitz (50., Micanski)

VfL Bochum	       -   FC Ingolstadt 04	0:1 (0:0)     12,346

                      0:1  Caiuby (89., Rechtsschuss, Matip)

SpVgg Greuther Fürth   -   Karlsruher SC	3:0 (1:0)     12,760

                      1:0  Schmidtgal (28.)
                      2:0  Nehrig (70., penalty, Tyrala)
                      3:0  Nöthe (83., Sararer)

Fortuna Düsseldorf     -   Eint Braunschweig	1:1 (0:1)     35,427

                      0:1  Kumbela (27., Pfitzner)
                      1:1  Bröker (47., Rösler)

Hansa Rostock	       -   Erzgebirge Aue	0:1 (0:1)     14,000

                      0:1  Hochscheidt (22., Fa. Müller)

FC St. Pauli	       -   Energie Cottbus	0:0 (0:0)     23,535

SC Paderborn 07	       -   MSV Duisburg	        1:2 (0:1)     12,738

                      0:1  Wolze (11., Gjasula)
                      1:1  Brückner (51., Rupp)
                      1:2  Domovchiyski (68., Brosinski)

Monday:
1.FC Union Berlin      -   Eintracht Frankfurt  0:4 (0:1)     16,589

                      0:1  Idrissou (9., Köhler)
                      0:2  Hoffer (57., Schwegler)
                      0:3  Meier (73., Idrissou)
                      0:4  Meier (89., Rode)



 1  SpVgg Greuther Fürth	27   18    5 	4    63:21  +42    59
 2  Eintracht Frankfurt (A)	27   17    7 	3    65:27  +38    58
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Fortuna Düsseldorf	  	27   14   11 	2    56:27  +29    53
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  FC St. Pauli (A)	  	27   15    6 	6    45:27  +18    51 
 5  SC Paderborn 07	  	27   14    8 	5    43:32  +11    50 
 6  1860 München	  	27   14    4 	9    49:37  +12    46 
 7  1. FC Union Berlin	  	27   11    6   10    45:46  -1 	   39 
 8  Eintracht Braunschweig (N)	27    9   11 	7    32:29  +3 	   38 
 9  Dynamo Dresden (N)	  	27    9    6   12    42:45  -3 	   33 
10  VfL Bochum	  	        27    9    4   14    35:45  -10    31 
11  Energie Cottbus	  	27    7    9   11    25:38  -13    30 
12  Erzgebirge Aue	  	27    7    9   11    26:43  -17    30 
13  FC Ingolstadt 04	  	27    6   10   11    33:45  -12    28 
14  FSV Frankfurt	  	27    6   10   11    32:51  -19    28 
15  MSV Duisburg	  	27    7    6   14    32:41  -9 	   27
---------------------------------------------------------------------
16  Alemannia Aachen	  	27    3   12   12    22:37  -15    21
---------------------------------------------------------------------
17  Karlsruher SC	  	27    5    5   17    26:57  -31    20 
18  Hansa Rostock (N)	  	27    2   11   14    24:47  -23    17

Leaders Greuther Fürth had little trouble with struggling Karlsruhe. One might have expected a letdown after the disappointment midweek in the Cup, and the Greuther looked a bit disinterested. But coach Mike Büskens had his troops at least focused on the points, and the home side easily brushed aside feeble KSC.

Düsseldorf could only draw against Braunschweig, and will regret this match. Braunschweig GK Daniel Davari stopped Jens Langenecke’s penalty in the 83rd minute to salvage the draw, and these lost points may ending up hurting Fortuna when all is said and done. Düsseldorf had most of the play, but Braunscweig was sharp and dangerous on counters.

St.Pauli was unable to take advantage of Fortuna’s slip. The Paulistas were caught in a dour struggle with a solid defense of Energie Cottbus, and the match petered out to a draw.

It was even worse for Paderborn, as they were dumped at home by a recently resurgent MSV Duisburg. The Zebras jumped out quickly with a goal, and showed energy in defense. SCP looked the stronger team, but were chasing the lead. When they finally got a deserved equalizer, they relaxed, and Duisburg came on and grabbed another lead. Now Paderborn looked spent and couldn’t get things back on track.

1860 gets back on track, although it may be too late. Dynamo was probably happy that their fans actually got to watch them play. (and quite a few showed up.) 1860 dominated the 1st half, but Dresden GK Benjamin Kirsten was in top form. Eventually, a header by Benny Lauth gave the Lions the deserved victory. Probably the Dynammo fans rioted again after the match, so they’ll get banned again.

A critical relegation battle was won by FSV Frankfurt, who have lots of experience in these type of games…every year it’s the same old story. The Bornheimer are truly the little Frankfurt club, but they keep scrapping away and somehow manage to survive in the 2.Liga. This year looks like they’ll pull off that surprise again. FSV controlled the match against struggling Aachen, who expected more from this season, now turning into a nightmare.

Ingolstadt got a great away win at Bochum. However, it was not easy. Both clubs played hard, and Bochum generally controlled the match and looked more threatening. They did waste some good chances, and Ingolstadt waited until the very end before kicking their hosts in the nuts and running away with all the points.

Things look hopeless for Hansa Rostock. In an eastern derby against Aue, the Rostockers were down after only 12 minutes, as Stephan Gusche got his ass tossed for a flying kung-fu kick to the face of Fabian Muller. Supposedly unintentional, but Hansa down a man. Erzgebirge soon took advantage and scored, and that was enough, despite Rostock’s desperate efforts.

On Monday, Eintracht Frankfurt was superb in a thrashing of Union Berlin. The hosts played fairly decent in the 1st half, holding on, but were too weak in attack. Frankfurt was razor sharp and dangerous going forward, and eventually broke through for a convincing victory.

3.Liga, Round 31

Sandhausen back on top, Chemnitz moves up. Relegation battle remains fierce.

Chemnitzer FC	      -    VfL Osnabrück	 3:1 (0:1)    6,700
Rot-Weiß Oberhausen   -    VfB Stuttgart II	 2:1 (2:0)    3,462
Carl Zeiss Jena	      -    Werder Bremen II	 3:1 (2:1)    4,814
SV Sandhausen	      -    SV Babelsberg 03	 4:0 (0:0)    2,100
Wacker Burghausen     -    Rot-Weiß Erfurt	 1:1 (1:1)    3,020
1. FC Saarbrücken     -    Jahn Regensburg	 1:0 (0:0)    4,136
Preußen Münster	      -    SV Wehen Wiesbaden	 1:1 (1:1)    5,187
1. FC Heidenheim      -    Arminia Bielefeld	 2:1 (1:0)    7,100
Kickers Offenbach     -    SV Darmstadt 98	 1:1 (0:1)    8,870
SpVgg Unterhaching    -    VfR Aalen	         1:1 (1:1)    1,480

 1  SV Sandhausen	  	31   16    8 	7    49:35  +14    56 
 2  VfR Aalen	  	        31   16    8 	7    42:31  +11    56
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 3  Chemnitzer FC (N)	  	31   14    8 	9    43:33  +10    50
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 4  Wacker Burghausen	  	31   11   15 	5    48:39  +9 	   48 
 5  1. FC Heidenheim	  	31   13    9 	9    39:30  +9 	   48 
 6  Jahn Regensburg	  	31   12   11 	8    45:33  +12    47 
 7  Rot-Weiß Erfurt	  	30   11   12 	7    40:33  +7 	   45 
 8  1. FC Saarbrücken	  	31   10   12 	9    51:44  +7 	   42 
 9  VfL Osnabrück (A)	  	30   10   12 	8    36:29  +7 	   42
10  Kickers Offenbach	  	30   11    9   10    37:31  +6 	   42 
11  SV Darmstadt 98 (N)	  	30   10    8   12    39:40  -1 	   38 
12  Arminia Bielefeld (A)	31    8   13   10    43:48  -5 	   37 
13  SpVgg Unterhaching	  	31   10    6   15    49:50  -1 	   36 
14  VfB Stuttgart II	  	31    8   12   11    31:41  -10    36 
15  Preußen Münster (N)	  	29    7   14 	8    30:33  -3 	   35 
16  Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (A)	31    8   11   12    30:37  -7 	   35
17  SV Wehen Wiesbaden	  	31    8   11   12    33:42  -9 	   35
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18  SV Babelsberg 03	  	30    8   10   12    35:47  -12    34 
19  Carl Zeiss Jena	  	30    6   11   13    31:47  -16    29 
20  Werder Bremen II	  	31    4   10   17    28:56  -28    22

Jena gained an important win, against Bremen II. This was a must-win, the last chance for Carl-Zeiss, and they at least remain within striking distance. Werder’s B team however is probably finished for good now.

Sandhausen blasted Babalesberg, although it took a while to get started. Since Aalen was held at unpredictable Unterhaching, SVS takes over the lead.

Chemnitz has been charging up the table, and the newcomers basically ended Osnabrück’s slim hopes for promotion. Regensburg continues to dick around, the one-time leaders failing at Saarbrücken. Burghausen and Erfurt split points in a promotion struggle, and Heidenheim hopped back into the race with a tough win over Bielefeld.

Oberhausen followed up with recent good performances getting a win against Stuttgart II and climbing out of relegation for the first time in ages.

The Hessen-derby between two one-time famous clubs (i.e. both have played in the Bundesliga) drew a fair crowd and ended square. Kickers needed the win to revive any hope of promotion…and it’s a testament how hard fought the league is this season. Offenbach is basically equidistant from promotion and relegation.

The relegation battle is fierce. As mentioned, Bremen II is finished, and Jena is hanging by a thread. But even though Darmstadt is 11th, they’re not very safe. A loss and a tie might be enough to send them down. Popping backup next season will be more difficult, given the reorganization of the Regionalliga, so this is a season you really don’t want to drop. Babelsberg has been sinking like a rock, but the Potsdamers only need a couple of wins to turn things around. This struggle seems likely to go down to the wire.

Bundesliga, Round 27

Hertha can hope, but K-town looks dead…Dortmund sends a message to Bayern.

VfL Wolfsburg	     -    Hamburger SV	         2:1 (0:0)    30,000

                    1:0  Mandzukic (46., Dejagah)
                    1:1  Berg (47., Westermann)
                    2:1  M. Schäfer (75.)

Bayern München	     -    Hannover 96	         2:1 (1:0)    69,000

                    1:0  Kroos (36., Robben)
                    2:0  Gomez (68., Kroos)
                    2:1  Ya Konan (74., M. Diouf)

SC Freiburg	     -    1. FC Kaiserslautern	 2:0 (2:0)    24,000

                    1:0  Guedé (8., Linksschuss, Freis)
                    2:0  Makiadi (14., Kopfball, Schuster)


Borussia M'gladbach  -    1899 Hoffenheim	 1:2 (1:0)    52,796

                    1:0  Reus (38., Herrmann)
                    1:1  Roberto Firmino (77.)
                    1:2  Vukcevic (79., Salihovic)

Werder Bremen	     -    FC Augsburg	         1:1 (0:0)    40,208

                    1:0  Füllkrug (61., Schmitz)
                    1:1  Verhaegh (90. + 2, Koo)

1. FSV Mainz 05	     -    Hertha BSC	         1:3 (0:1)    33,152

                    0:1  Ben-Hatira (41., Rukavytsya)
                    0:2  Ramos (52.,  Raffael)
                    1:2  Choupo-Moting (58.,  Zidan)
                    1:3  Ramos (69.)

FC Schalke 04	     -    Bayer Leverkusen	 2:0 (1:0)    61,673

                    1:0  Huntelaar (18., Fuchs)
                    2:0  Huntelaar (86., Farfan)


Sunday
VfB Stuttgart	     -    1. FC Nürnberg	 1:0 (0:0)    55,800

                    1:0  Cacau (78., Rechtsschuss, Hajnal)

1. FC Köln	     -    Borussia Dortmund	 1:6 (1:1)    50,000

                    1:0  Novakovic (13., Lanig)
                    1:1  Piszczek (26., Schmelzer)
                    1:2  Kagawa (47., Piszczek)
                    1:3  Lewandowski (52., Blaszczykowski)
                    1:4  Gündogan (79., Kagawa)
                    1:5  Kagawa (80., Piszczek)
                    1:6  Perisic (84., Gündogan)


 1  Borussia Dortmund (M)	27   19    5 	3    59:17  +42    62
 2  Bayern München	  	27   18    3 	6    66:18  +48    57
 3  FC Schalke 04 (P)	  	27   17    2 	8    60:34  +26    53
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 4  Borussia M'gladbach	  	27   15    6 	6    40:18  +22    51
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 5  Bayer Leverkusen	  	27   11    7 	9    39:36  +3 	   40
 6  Werder Bremen	  	27   11    7 	9    41:40  +1 	   40
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 7  VfB Stuttgart	  	27   11    6   10    44:34  +10    39
 8  Hannover 96	  	        27    9   11 	7    35:38  -3 	   38
 9  VfL Wolfsburg	  	27   11    4   12    36:48  -12    37
10  1899 Hoffenheim	  	27    8    9   10    31:38  -7 	   33
11  1. FC Nürnberg	  	27    9    4   14    25:38  -13    31
12  1. FSV Mainz 05	  	27    7    9   11    39:44  -5 	   30
13  SC Freiburg	  	        27    7    7   13    35:53  -18    28
14  1. FC Köln	  	        27    8    4   15    34:56  -22    28
15  FC Augsburg (N)	  	27    5   12   10    28:41  -13    27
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16  Hamburger SV	  	27    6    9   12    31:50  -19    27
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17  Hertha BSC Berlin (N)	27    6    8   13    29:48  -19    26
18  1. FC Kaiserslautern	27    3   11   13    17:38  -21    20

Köln started off brightly enough against leaders Dortmund. Neon GK Roman Weidenfeller couldn’t decide whether to come out or stay put, so Novakovic said “Dankeschön” and headed in. But the Neons weren’t phased, pressed and soon recuperated a tie. Köln remained in the match, with reasonable defense and counterattacks. Dortmund as usual created chances and wasted them, so you might expect more of the same. Nix-da. The Neons came out storming in the 2nd half and Kagawa volleyed in two minutes after restart. This was a sign for all-out attack, and after a nice combo between Kuba and Kagawa, Lewandowski only had to tap in. Now Dortmund was in complete control, and they viciously proceeded to kick Köln’s ass. No more wasting all the chances, and they ran up the score.

Bayern München perhaps didn’t take Hannover seriously, and left top scorer Mario Gomez on the bench to rest, giving Ivica Olic a rare start. As it turns out, Bayern pressed hard, but the 96ers defended well, and it wasn’t until Gomez came in and notched the second that things looked like clear München win. However, Hannover doubled their efforts, pulled a goal back, and with some luck might have equalized. A hard fought struggle, probably deserved win for Bayern, but it wasn’t easy.

Schalke dominated from start to finish against Leverkusen. The Blues were superior in all phases of the match, and it was only a matter of time until breaking through. A couple of headers by Klass-Jan Huntelaar put the Aspirins down. Coupled with Gladbach’s stunning home loss, the Schalkers vault into 3rd place, and maintain an miniscule chance for the title.

Krassimir Balakov started his first match as head coach of Kaiserslautern, and he couldn’t have been very happy with what he saw. In a crucial relegation 6 pointer, Freiburg basically delivered a knockout in the first quarter-hour, and then coasted in front of a packed home crowd. SCF has been battling hard, and they’re getting crucial points. FCK looks crap, and it is pretty hard to envision a scenario in which they stay up.

Gladbach was stunned at home by Hoffenheim. After the disappointment in the Cup, you would think a dose of Hopeless-heim would have been just what the doctor ordered. Indeed, the guests looked confused and without ideas and creativity, and Gladbach just ran up against them, and once again, Marco Reus opened up the scoring. It seemed to be only a matter of time to get another. But then a strange thing happened. The Hoppers grew some balls and counterattacked, and the Gladbachers were so stunned that they fell apart. Apparently Markus Babbel is a fight fan, since his strategy was classic “rope-a-dope”. The Hoppers were fresh and wanted the win, and they deserved it. A critical win for them, since they’ve been sliding into the relegation. Gladbach falls behind Schalke in the auto-qualifier for the Champions.
This was Gladbach’s 500th defeat in the Bundesliga, but only their first home loss of the year.

A good win for Wolfsburg in a rough-around-the-edges northern derby with Hamburg. Both teams looked like losers at times, but overall the VWs probably deserve the victory, as HSV was once again without a clue.

Bremen looked the winner against Augsburg, but they dicked around and gave up an equalizer in injury time. Werder, despite missing several regulars, was inferior in most of the match, but seemed to have things under control. Augsburg largely determined the play, but couldn’t take advantage. However, FCA threw everything forward near the end, and were rewarded with a precious point. Another crap result for Bremen.

Hertha BSC got a huge boost in their hopes of avoiding relegation. After last week’s em-bare-assing performance against Bayern, you might have figured Hertha’s goose was cooked. But Otto Rehagel must still have something in the tank, as he marshalled his troops to perhaps their best away performance of the season. Mainz started brightly, pressing Hertha back, but got increasingly nervous when the Berliners didn’t roll over and play dead. Once Hertha took the lead, they smelled blood, and their counters laid out the confused Mainzers.

Stuttgart struggled against Nürnberg. In fact, the visitors had several decent chances to take the lead in the 1st half. Late in the match, it was the forgotten man, Cacau, who slipped through and gave Stuttgart a lucky victory. This moves VfB into 7th place, which looks like it will mean a Europa-liga spot if they can hold on to it.

WSV Blog: Up,down,up…

Once again Wuppertal played their one step forward, one backward dance. This time they kicked VfL Bochum II’s ass 3-0. Lousy attendance was of course the reward for the disgraceful midweek drubbing in Dortmund. They probably wish they hadn’t left the pub to watch a boring match that hardly took any interest until Knappmann managed to squeeze in his 19th of the season. The 2nd half was somewhat better, as WSV came out determined, kicked some ass, scored a couple of goals, and then went back to sleep. Bochum never bothered to show up, they looked like a 16th place team.

But at least it’s a win

Wuppertaler SV - VfL Bochum II 3:0 (1:0)

Attendance: 936 (Stadion-Am-Zoo)

Scoring:

1:0 Knappmann (41.) 	 
2:0 Fleßers (58.) 	 
3:0 Quotschalla (61.) 

WUPPERTAL:
Semmler - 
El Hammouchi, Fleßers, Schlieter , Moosmayer    - 
Landers , Zieba , F. Haas , B. Abelski    - 
Quotschalla, Knappmann    

Subs:
Meier (70., B. Abelski)
Zimmermann (75., Landers)
Herzenbruch  (86., Moosmayer)
Trainer: Bruns

BOCHUM II:
Heuer Fernandes - 
Caspari, Kalina, Wolff, Götze - 
Mengert, Bulut - 
Freiberger, Kefkir, Wassinger    - 
Hrustic   

Subs:
Opiola (45., Kalina)
Stevens(46., Kefkir)
Kyei (61., Wassinger)

Trainer: Metaxas

WSV blog: Disaster in Dortmund, Regionalliga news

Once again. When looking at Wuppertal, I know you want to say “Is it half-empty or half-full”, well actually it’s almost all empty or zero-full. WSV had a makeup match against Borussia Dortmund II in the old Dortmund Rote Erde stadium and got bitch-slapped 0-3. What a disgrace, even though BVB II is a pretty decent squad. Luckily only 493 fans watched this grim defeat.

Rather than go into any gory details of the latest WSV embarassment, I figure I’ll give a little news on the Regionalliga. As mentioned before, this is a transition year for the 4th division, as next season the DFB is expanding the regional leagues. So for the most part, there is no relegation for clubs this season, but the struggle for promotion is fierce, as it will be harder to make the jump to the 3.Liga next year.

In the Regionalliga Nord, it’s a fierce battle at the top between RB Leipzig, Halle and Holstein Kiel. Leipzig has a point lead, but an extra game. All other clubs are at least 16 points back. Leipzig is of course interesting, since it’s sponsored by Red-Bull, famous for Red-Bull Salzburg and the MLS New York Redbulls. Of course, since the DFB bans using commerical names in clubs (exceptions only for “traditionals” like Bayer Leverkusen, which started as the club for Bayer factory workers), the “RB” officially stands for “RasenBallsport”, but everybody knows the score. A couple of years ago Red-Bull essentially bought the 5th division license of SSV Markranstädt. They’ve dumped money into the club with the idea of becoming Hoffenheim 1899: The Sequel. However this season they’ve met fierce opposition from traditional ex-GDR side Halle FC and from Holstein Kiel, who had a nice DFB-Cup run. The Nord will get split next season into a more traditional Nord league, consisting of Niedersachsen/Hamburg/Bremen/Schleswig Holstein clubs, and the eastern clubs will go back east. Among other known clubs struggling in the current league are VfB Lübeck, SV Meppen and SV Wilhelmshaven. Ex-GDR clubs include VFC Plauen and 1.FC Magdeburg.

In the Regionalliga West, Sportfreunde Lotte (an obscure Westfalen club) and Gladbach II are tied at the top. Dortmund II is lurking in the shadows. Of course, this is where Wuppertaler SV is currently stinking, and next season will continue to smell. Currently a mix of Western and Southwestern clubs, it will be limited to Nordrhein-Westfalen clubs next season. Among known clubs are WSV, Essen, Verl and Fortuna Köln from the West, and SW clubs Eintracht Trier, Elversberg, Koblenz.

The Regionalliga Süd is currently a mix of clubs from the southwest, Baden-Würtemmberg, Hessen and Bayern. This will get split up next season as Bavaria gets it’s own league and the southwestern clubs merge into a SW league. The BW and Hessen clubs will then share a league, so when the DFB is done, the Regionalliga will make some sense. Currently Stuttgarter Kickers rule the league. Some other well known clubs are Wormatia Worms, Pfullendorf, Hessen Kassel and Waldhof Mannheim.