Somewhat fortunate win for Greuther Fürth, but Fortuna and Paderborn impressive. Nobody scored a goal against the top clubs.

2.Liga -Round 24

MSV Duisburg	     -    SpVgg Greuther Fürth	0:2 (0:0)   10.077

                    0:1  Occean (78., Klaus)
                    0:2  Zillner (90. + 1, Klaus)

FC Ingolstadt 04     -    1. FC Union Berlin	3:3 (1:1)    6,264

                    1:0  Nemec (33., F. Heller)
                    1:1  Ede (35., Pfertzel)
                    1:2  Terodde (48., Parensen)
                    2:2  Nemec (72., Görlitz)
                    3:2  Buchner (78., Akaichi)
                    3:3  Karl (90. + 2, Ede)

VfL Bochum	     -    Dynamo Dresden	0:2 (0:1)   14,498

                    0:1  Dedic (11., Bregerie)
                    0:2  Fort (47., Bregerie)

Karlsruher SC	     -    Fortuna Düsseldorf	0:5 (0:2)   14,000

                    0:1  O. Fink (10., Rösler)
                    0:2  Beister (15., Ilsö)
                    0:3  Ilsö (49., Beister)
                    0:4  Rösler (53.)
                    0:5  Lambertz (76., Bröker)

Alemannia Aachen     -    SC Paderborn 07	0:3 (0:0)   15,471

                    0:1  Taylor (55., Kara)
                    0:2  Taylor (61., Kara)
                    0:3  Alushi (89., Rupp)

Eintracht Frankfurt  -    Energie Cottbus	1:0 (0:0)   33,900

                    1:0  Hoffer (69., Rode)

Erzgebirge Aue	     -    FSV Frankfurt	        4:3 (3:3)    9,400

                    0:1  M. Görlitz (19., Gaus)
                    1:1  Fa. Müller (20., Savran)
                    2:1  König (34., Kocer)
                    2:2  Micanski (41., Gaus)
                    2:3  Gledson (45., Yelen)
                    3:3  König (45. + 3, Hochscheidt)
                    4:3  Kocer (57., Fa. Müller)

Eintr Braunschweig   -    Hansa Rostock	        3:2 (2:1)   22,290

                    1:0  Theuerkauf (7.)
                    1:1  Perthel (13.)
                    2:1  Kumbela (40., Kruppke)
                    2:2  Jänicke (52., Perthel)
                    3:2  Zimmermann (79.)

Monday
1860 München	     -    FC St. Pauli          1:1 (0:1)   30,000
                    0:1  Bruns (33., penalty, Sliskovic)
                    1:1  Volland (88., Benjamin)

 1  SpVgg Greuther Fürth     24   15   5   4 	55:20  +35    50
 2  Eintracht Frankfurt (A)  24   14   7   3 	53:26  +27    49
----------------------------------------------------------------
 3  SC Paderborn 07	     24   14   7   3 	42:26  +16    49
----------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Fortuna Düsseldorf	     24   13   9   2 	51:24  +27    48
 5  FC St. Pauli (A)	     24   14   5   5 	43:25  +18    47
 6  1860 München	     23   13   3   7 	46:30  +16    42
 7  Eintr. Braunschweig (N)  24    9   8   7 	30:27  +3     35
 8  1. FC Union Berlin	     24   10   5   9 	41:40  +1     35
 9  Dynamo Dresden (N)	     24    9   5   10 	42:41  +1     32
10  VfL Bochum  	     24    9   3   12 	34:42  -8     30
11  Energie Cottbus	     24    7   6   11 	23:36  -13    27
12  Erzgebirge Aue	     23    5   8   10 	22:39  -17    23
13  Alemannia Aachen	     24    3  12   9 	20:31  -11    21
14  FC Ingolstadt 04	     24    4   9   11 	28:45  -17    21
15  FSV Frankfurt	     24    4   9   11 	27:49  -22    21
----------------------------------------------------------------
16  MSV Duisburg	     24    5   5   14 	27:38  -11    20
----------------------------------------------------------------
17  Karlsruher SC	     24    5   4   15 	24:51  -27    19
18  Hansa Rostock (N)	     24    2  10   12 	21:39  -18    16

Management announced prior to Friday night’s clash that if MSV Duisburg failed to win against leaders Greuther Fürth that coach Oliver Reck would be fired. How’s that for motivation. But after the match, they said “Just kidding.” The Zebras actually put in a good performance and largely controlled the match. But there’s a reason (besides that they suck) that MSV can’t win, they miss too many chances. And there’s also a reason why Greuther Fürth is topping the chart: they take theirs. Duisburg fought hard and deserved a point, but the visitors scored the goals and therefore bring home the bacon. It wasn’t all positive for the Greuther though: forward Gerald Asamoah twisted his ankle and will be out at least a couple of weeks.

Düsseldorf has looked pretty lame recently, but there was nothing lame about Fortuna as they administered a severe bitch-slap to Karlsruhe. KSC has been looking better, but ran into a wall, running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Meanwhile, Fortuna was waltzing through the meager KSC defense and scoring at will.

Paderborn also had an impressive outing, as dumping Aachen in the Tivoli is never an easy task. American Matt Taylor scored a double, but he was only in the match because league leading scorer Nick Proschwitz left with a face injury early in the match.

Eintracht Frankfurt struggled at home to break down Cottbus. The Eagles dominated the match, but Energie was solid in defensive and engaged. Especially in the 1st half, it didn’t look like the home side would be able to get much out of this match, as they looked dazed and confused. In the 2nd period, Eintract raised their game, and eventually got the goal. Cottbus came out of their shell, but ruined any chance of a comeback when Adlung got his ass tossed. This is what Germans like to call an “Arbeitssieg”…

Wild shootout in Ingolstadt. Union looked the technically superior squad, and seemed to have the edge. They also had the lead, but the “Schanzer” never gave up and came storming back. It looked like FC04 would get a needed win, but in injury time Union saved the match and a point.

Hey Bochum, you suck! (As a WSV fan, I had to get that off my chest). But it’s true, Bochum has been a terrible disappointment this season, and they were completely lame and outplayed by a Dresden squad that has started to show some life. Dynamo isn’t going anywhere, but I suppose that’s the point, having just got promoted this season.

A wild shootout in Aue ended with a crucial relegation win for Erzgebirge against FSV Frankfurt. Both teams threw caution to the win, and the fans were treated to an offensive spectacular.

Bayern gets dumped in Leverkusen, Schalke craps in Freiburg, Gladbach sucks in Nürnberg. Dortmund takes advantage to build their lead. Bottom clubs were active.

BUNDESLIGA - Round 24
Bayer Leverkusen	-    Bayern München    2:0 (0:0)   30,210

                       1:0  Kießling (79., Derdiyok)
                       2:0  Bellarabi (90., Castro)

SC Freiburg	        -    FC Schalke 04    2:1 (1:0)   24,000

                       1:0  Freis (18., Flum)
                       2:0  D. Caligiuri (66., penalty, Schmid)
                       2:1  Pukki (72., Holtby)

Hertha BSC Berlin	-    Werder Bremen    1:0 (0:0)   52,744

                       1:0  Rukavytsya (62., Bastians)

Hamburger SV	        -    VfB Stuttgart    0:4 (0:2)   54,500

                       0:1  Ibisevic (23., Hajnal)
                       0:2  Kuzmanovic (31., penalty, Okazaki)
                       0:3  Kuzmanovic (47., penalty, Harnik)
                       0:4  Harnik (90., Ibisevic)

1. FC Kaiserslautern	-    VfL Wolfsburg    0:0 (0:0)   34,110

Hannover 96	        -    FC Augsburg      2:2 (1:1)   42,300

                       0:1  Bellinghausen (12., Oehrl)
                       1:1  Haggui (33., Pander)
                       2:1  M. Diouf (69., Pinto)
                       2:2  Callsen-Bracker (89., penalty, Ndjeng)

Borussia Dortmund       -    FSV Mainz 05     2:1 (1:0)   80,720

                       1:0 Blaszczykowski (26., Kagawa)
  	               1:1 Zidan (74., Szalai)
                       2:1 Kagawa (77., Piszczek)

1. FC Nürnberg	        -    Bor. M'gladbach  1:0 (0:0)   45,675

                       1:0  Bunjaku (87., Esswein)

1899 Hoffenheim	 -  	1. FC Köln            1:1 (1:0)   29,250

                       1:0  Compper (33., Rudy)
                       1:1  Podolski (81., Brecko)


 1  Borussia Dortmund (M)  24 	 17    4   3     52:16  +36    55
 2  Bayern München	   24 	 15    3   6 	 51:16  +35    48
 3  Borussia M'gladbach	   24 	 14    5   5 	 37:15  +22    47
-----------------------------------------------------------------
 4  FC Schalke 04 (P)	   24 	 14    2   8 	 51:32  +19    44
-----------------------------------------------------------------
 5  Bayer Leverkusen	   24 	 11    7   6 	 36:29  +7     40
 6  Werder Bremen	   24 	 10    6   8 	 37:38 	-1     36
-----------------------------------------------------------------
 7  Hannover 96 	   24 	  8   11   5 	 30:32 	-2     35
 8  VfB Stuttgart	   24 	  9    5   10 	 41:33 	+8     32
 9  1. FC Nürnberg	   24 	  9    4   11 	 23:32 	-9     31
10  1899 Hoffenheim	   24 	  7    9   8 	 27:28 	-1     30
11  VfL Wolfsburg	   24 	  8    4   12 	 28:44 	-16    28
12  1. FSV Mainz 05	   24 	  6    9   9 	 35:38 	-3     27
13  Hamburger SV	   24 	  6    9   9 	 28:42 	-14    27
14  1. FC Köln	  	   24 	  7    4   13 	 31:46 	-15    25
15  Hertha BSC Berlin (N)  24 	  5    8   11 	 26:40 	-14    23
-----------------------------------------------------------------
16  FC Augsburg (N)	   24 	  4   10   10 	 25:39 	-14    22
-----------------------------------------------------------------
17  SC Freiburg	  	   24 	  5    6   13 	 30:52 	-22    21
18  1. FC Kaiserslautern   24 	  3   10   11 	 16:32 	-16    19

Bayern gets a headache, and apparently they are allergic to Aspirin, so they should have had some ibuprofen on hand. Despite not starting Frank Ribery (injured in friendly against Germany), bayern was the dominating side in the 1st half, but Leverkusen was able to fend off their assaults. In the 2nd half, the Aspirins got more play, and began to equalize and harbor thoughts of a win. And they were rewarded. On a cross, GK Manuel Neuer did one of his obligatory wanker moves, missing the ball, Derdiyok chased it down and slid it across the mouth of the goal and Kiessling tapped in. Neuer is amazing. A World class goalie most of the time, but you can rely on him wankerizing at least one moment in every game. Overall, a great win for Leverkusen, although it could be “glass-half-full”, since the win probably saves coach Robin Dutt’s ass, and the jury is still out whether he’s largely responsible for the Alka-Seltzers ho-hum play this season. Bayern has definitely hit a cold streak, and Heynckes better come up with something or Hoeness is going to fire his ass.

Schalke once again showed they’re not ready for prime time. They basically sucked in Freiburg, and the home side fought tirelessly for 90 minutes, and deservedly got a crucial win. Schalke missed leading scorer Klaas Huntelaar, another casualty of the silly international friendlies midweek.

Dortmund had a hard time against a revived Mainz. The Neons dominated the proceedings and had lots of chances, but Kuba’s blast was all they had to show for it. Then as often happens, a Mainz counterattck led ex-Dortmunder Mohamed Zidan to get a shot off – which he duly hammered into the net (His 5th in 5 games since joining Mainz). To credit Dortmund, although the fans were shocked, the squad immediately went back to work, and Kagawa slotted home only a couple of minutes later.

Hamburg? Woe, what happened here? HSV dropped a turd of a match on their fans and Stuttgart obliged by kicking their ass. It was one of the most undisciplined, disgraceful performances HSV fans have been subjected to in years.

Augsburg has been playing with confidence, and they were all over Hannover. The newcomers were outplaying their hosts, and grabbed the lead. Unfortunately the Fuggers were also wasting lots of chances, so that gave the 96ers a chance to regroup. (Obviously coach Miro Slomka kicked some asses during halftime). Hannover came storming back and went ahead, and it looked like a another tough-luck outing for Augsburg. But a last minute penalty salvaged a precious point for the visitors.

“King Otto” had his first positive effect on Hertha, as they stopped their 7 game losing streak. Ironically, it was against Werder Bremen, which Rehagel had essentially put on the map as a success story with his almost 500 match stewardship of the club. The game itself was tense but boring, as neither side could mount anything worthwhile. Berlin obviously was inferior, but struck at an opportune moment and deserved the win. Werder was listless and incompetant, seems like this club really needs a kick in the pants.

Kaiserslautern and Wolfsburg delivered a desolate match as well. Unfortunately for the Reds, they weren’t able to grab a win, and they sink to the bottom. I think it’s something like 14 without the 3 points. Wolfsburg has sucked under Magath, more grim and cynical than they’ve been in years. I guess the draw was in order.

Nürnberg upset Gladbach to seal Dortmund’s advantage at the the top. Der Club relied on a strong defense, and the visitors struggled to mount any reasonable threats. FCN remained patient and then seized the lead near the end. Overall, a good win for the home side, and Gladbach can’t really have any complaints, because they didn’t show anything that would have justified a point.

Hoffenheim was playing well and kicking Köln’s butt all over the field. But as usual, the Hoppers were wasting their chances and just dicking around for the whistle. The visitors looked really lame and generated no chances, looking like sure losers. But then Podolski to the rescue! Once against “Prinz” saved the day for Köln, getting them a precious point.

Aalen takes the lead, and Regensburg is unable to cut the gap in a direct confrontation at the top.

3.Liga Round 28

Jahn Regensburg	       -    SV Sandhausen	  1:1 (1:1)   4,387
VfR Aalen	       -    Preußen Münster	  1:0 (0:0)   4,104
Arminia Bielefeld      -    Wacker Burghausen	  2:2 (2:2)    
SV Wehen Wiesbaden     -    Rot-Weiß Erfurt	  0:1 (0:1)   2,509
Carl Zeiss Jena	       -    Rot-Weiß Oberhausen   0:0 (0:0)   5,688
SV Babelsberg 03       -    Chemnitzer FC	  0:0 (0:0)    
Werder Bremen II       -    SpVgg Unterhaching	  1:1 (1:0)     298
VfB Stuttgart II       -    Kickers Offenbach	  0:0 (0:0)     650
VfL Osnabrück	       -    1. FC Heidenheim	  0:0 (0:0)   9,000
Sunday
SV Darmstadt 98	       -     1. FC Saarbrücken	   -:- (-:-) 

 1  VfR Aalen	  	        27    15    7 	5     36:22  +14    52
 2  SV Sandhausen	  	27    14    8 	5     42:28  +14    50
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Jahn Regensburg	  	26    11   10 	5     41:25  +16    43
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  1. FC Heidenheim	  	27    11    9 	7     32:24  +8     42
 5  Wacker Burghausen	  	27     9   13 	5     42:36  +6     40
 6  Rot-Weiß Erfurt	  	27    10   10 	7     33:28  +5     40
 7  Chemnitzer FC (N)	  	27    10    8 	9     34:32  +2     38
 8  Kickers Offenbach	  	25    10    7 	8     31:25  +6     37
 9  1. FC Saarbrücken	  	26     8   12 	6     42:34  +8     36
10  VfL Osnabrück (A)	  	25     8   12 	5     28:20  +8     36
11  VfB Stuttgart II	  	27     8   11 	8     29:33  -4     35
12  Arminia Bielefeld (A)       28     7   12   9     36:42  -6     33
13  SV Babelsberg 03	        27     8    9 	10    35:42  -7     33
14  Preußen Münster (N)	  	25     7   11 	7     25:27  -2     32
15  SV Wehen Wiesbaden	  	28     7    9 	12    27:37  -10    30
16  SpVgg Unterhaching	  	26     8    5 	13    40:43  -3     29
17  SV Darmstadt 98 (N)	  	25     7    7 	11    32:35  -3     28
----------------------------------------------------------------------
18  Carl Zeiss Jena	  	26     5    9 	12    27:44  -17    24
19  Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (A)	27     4   11 	12    24:35  -11    23
20  Werder Bremen II	  	27     3   10 	14    25:49  -24    19

Regensburg missed a huge chance to make a bid for an auto-promotion spot. The Bavarians faced leaders Sandhausen. Jahn dominated the 1st half, but was too wasteful. The 2nd half was more even, and both teams had chances to win. Overall, probably a fair result and hard fought match. Among the views was Dortmund’s Mario Götze, who is doing his rehab at a nearby facility.

With Sandhausen unable to win, Aalen jumps to the top, although VfR struggled against Münster. It took a late free-kick to win the match.

Osnabrück is still trying to get back in the race, and they have the best fan support. However, their match with Heidenheim was rather lame, neither team showing much. FCH remains in the hunt for the playoff.

Erfurt took advantage of a poor Wehen performance to grab an away win and inch closer to challenging for the playoff. Offenbach and Chemnitz played poorly against inferior sides and weren’t able to move up. The Kickers have a couple of matches to makeup, so they could get some points, but they blew a good opportunity. They dominated against Stuttgart II, but couldn’t put the ball in the net.

A critical relegation battle in Jena saw the hosts largely control the match, but in the end it was Oberhausen that was pressing for the win. This helps neither club, as they really don’t make up any ground.

International Friendlies are lame. I usually don’t comment about non-German football, but since I have a captive audience, I get to pontificate…

Basically, I don’t put much value in these matches, and the main positive is that your players don’t get injured. Lots of folks expected Germany to spank France, and when it didn’t happen, they feel there’s some problem. However luckily, those are the minority. If you’ve watched over the years, you’d know that Germany doesn’t give much of a rat’s ass about the result. Nothing is at stake, so if they don’t win, they really don’t care that much. As long as they don’t stink, then mission accomplished. When trophies are on the line, that’s another matter.

So when the USA beats Italy for the first time in 82 years (in Italy to boot), I have to take the same attitude. So what? Does it mean Italy is in crisis? Not really. They’ve got some work before the Euros, but they knew that already. US is ready for prime time? No, but they’re becoming respectable. Sort of what’s been going on for the last 15 years…

Oddly enough, it’s the Brits that seem to blow things out of proportion. Everytime England plays, if they suck, the sky is falling, woe to Albion. (Actually, Brazil or Argentina are even worse. You should listen to Globo when Brazil is playing…) But if they show some life, well, “Stuart Pearce might be the right guy for the job.” What nonsense. Maybe Pearce is the right choice (couldn’t be much worse than some of the other clowns they’ve had or talked about), but your choice shouldn’t be made on a meaningless friendly. It should be more along the lines of whether you can afford to pay Harry Redknapp’s salary demands, since he won’t be able to benefit from bung-payments anymore, hehehe…

The other problem with these friendlies is that there are way too many international fixtures anyway. Semi-mediocre players rack up ridiculous number of caps, and nobodies get called up. Brazil seemingly capped players just so their clubs could inflate the price when selling them to Europe, plus you have to wonder about “Albanian internationals” playing in the Regionalliga.